Enslaved Star
by bberry06
Summary: Legolas, our favorite Elf, gets captured and imprisoned. He soon finds himself up for auction at some enslavers' expense. Will he ever get to go back to Mirkwood, or will he have to work for the rest of his immortal life? COMPLETE!
1. Captured Elf

**Disclaimer- **I don't own LOTR or any of the characters. I'm too poor… -sniffles-

**Summary- **Legolas, our favorite Elf, gets captured and imprisoned. He soon finds himself up for auction at some enslavers' expense. Will he ever get to go back to Mirkwood, or will he have to work for the rest of his immortal life?

**Rating- **I rated it 'PG-13', because it has a little course language, and also this will have blood, torture, starvation, etc…

**A/N- **I'm hungry… Anyway, please don't think that I like to make the Fellowship members tortured, but I do like to write angst and comfort stories. This story came out of the fact of how much I think slavery is wrong! This story, once again, has Elf torture… so if you don't like, then don't flame me! Flaming will get you no where! It'll only say "Hey! Look at me! I'm a jerk!! I need to put your story down so that I can feel better!" So, don't even try. Ok, on with the story!:)

**A/N#2- **Oops… wait, there's a second author's note!! Hehe, this story takes place in the fourth age (after the Ring was destroyed). Ok, _now_ on with the story!

**Chapter 1- **Captured Elf

Legolas hid behind a great tree. His heart pounded in his ears. _If they find me, I'm dead. _He thought frantically. His feet shifted, trying to get as close to the tree as possible.

"Over here!" A man's voice called. The voice was answered by footsteps of a large company trampling the soft grass.

"Well, where is it?" Another voice demanded.

"It ran over here." The first voice stammered, obviously he was afraid of the second man.

Legolas' breathing quickened. He straightened his back and held his breath, afraid that any noise would give him away.

"Maybe it ran up a tree. Those damned creatures can climb, can't they?" Another, more deep voice said.

"They can. But this one didn't look like it could climb very far. It looked too skinny." The second voice said. "Keep looking!" He ordered. The company's footsteps scattered across the area.

Legolas peered around the tree to see if they had left. He sighed deeply. _Gone._ He thought, relieved.

"Found ya!" A man's hands clasped Legolas' mouth and throat. He pulled Legolas to the ground and yelled, "Over here! I've got it!" Legolas tried to wriggle out of the man's grasp, but he held firmly.

Men filed in around the Elf and man. Some men had cord, and another man carried a chain.

"Bind it! Quick!" The man was struggling to keep Legolas down.

Some men grabbed Legolas' arms and others legs. One man took the position that the first man had, and grasped Legolas' mouth and throat. He pushed down, causing Legolas to choke. The men with the cord bound Legolas' wrists together. The man with the chain wound it around the prince's neck.

Legolas thrashed against his restraints. He attempted to kick the man in front of him, but the man evaded the blow.

"None of that now." The first man said while stuffing a rag into the Elf's mouth. "You'll go quietly, ya hear?"

Legolas bore his teeth and gave a muffled growl. He wasn't going quietly.

"Aggressive one, aren't ya?" The man laughed at Legolas' feeble attempts to get free. "Come, men, let's head back."

A tall, lean man pulled Legolas' chain. Legolas was dragged awhile before he scrambled to his feet. Legolas stopped walking and pulled back.

"You!" The man that Legolas assumed was the leader walked up to him. "Stop that!" He backhanded Legolas' cheek, and Legolas head-butted the man.

"That's it!" The leader pulled out his sword and cracked the hilt against Legolas' head.

Legolas' vision blackened. He fell to the ground unconscious.

"Drag it home." The leader growled, then he addressed the company, "We have a lot of leagues to cover before we make camp!" He led the company on.

**A/N- **Review! REVIEW! Reviews make me happy!:D And a happy me gets chappys up quicker. Lol, just click that little 'review' button down there to make me very happy! n.n


	2. Talk is Cheap, Freedom isn't

**Disclaimer- **Don't own LOTR or any of the characters.

**A/N- **My mouth hurts… I had four novocaine shots today… and one of them was injected into my muscle… but enough about me! Here's the second chapter!!:D

**Chapter 2- **Talk is Cheap, Freedom isn't

The leader stopped and spoke. "Let's make camp here." He walked over to Legolas and kicked him. "Wake up, worthless rat!"

Legolas groaned, but he didn't open his eyes.

"Tie it to that tree." The leader motioned to a tree, about thirty yards away. "I don't want to see its face anymore. I'm sick of it."

The man that held Legolas' chain dragged him to the tree. He tied the chain around the trunk and took Legolas' weapons. He then walked back to the center of camp.

Legolas opened his eyes. Everything was blurry, but slowly, it cleared up. He felt the tree behind him and he saw vague shapes of men in the camp.

"Look, Hesid, it woke up." A man, roughly shorter than Legolas, walked up to him and prodded him with a stick. "Think we should feed it?"

"Let it starve." Hesid, the leader, spoke coldly, "It'll be easier to tame."

The man held out some bread in front of Legolas' face, just beyond his reach. Legolas turned his head, pretending he wasn't interested.

"Hungry?" The man teasingly moved the bread back in front of Legolas' face. Legolas shot him a vicious glare.

"You can't eat anyway! Boss' orders!" The man took a bite out of the bread and chewed it with relish, feigning it was the best piece of food.

"Dernid, stop teasing it!" Hesid ordered.

Dernid reluctantly walked away from Legolas and sat down next to the fire.

Legolas surveyed his situation: a ring of men, heavily armed, sitting around a fire, he was tied to a tree, he hadn't eaten anything since morning, an annoying gag was in his mouth, and above all, he was now weaponless. _Great… how am I going to get free now?_

Hesid approached Legolas and drew his knife. He placed the knife on Legolas' throat and pushed until blood trickled down his neck. "You'll do everything I say, and won't talk back." He withdrew his knife and held Legolas' chin firmly in his hand. "Got it?"

Legolas didn't reply. _Do everything he demands? Not a chance…_

"Stupid creature…" The man's voice trailed off into cussing while he walked back to the fire.

Legolas' thoughts drifted back to Mirkwood and his ada. A silent tear slid down his cheek and stained the soft earth. _I may never see my ada again… _More tears spilt on the ground.

"Look at me! I'm an Elf!" Hesid mockingly pranced around the fire. The men laughed and hooted.

"Ai! You need to be more primly than that!" Dernid slapped his thigh. "They act like this!" He started to walk around with his chin held high and his shoulder blades touching. The men laughed even harder. Some were choking for breath; they'd been laughing so hard.

_I don't walk like that!_ Legolas snorted angrily.

"Aww! Look, we've gone and made it angry!" Hesid continued to mock the Elf.

_Best not to pay any attention… it won't do any good… _Legolas drew his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them. _I should try and sleep. Something tells me that I'll have a lot of walking to do tomorrow._

The men continued to mock the Elf deep into the night. "The Elves think that they're so high and mighty!" Hesid swung a bottle of beer in his hand. "But who's high and mighty now? Who puts those stupid creatures in their place? Who? Who?"

"The men!" The company cried in delight.

Legolas wasn't able to fall asleep until later into the night. The men sickened him.

The night's hours slowly ticked by and Legolas awoke. He'd fallen asleep when all the men fell over drunk. The sun's rays warmed the heart of Legolas.

The men awoke and most of them looked groggy and spent.

"On yer feet, men!" Hesid ordered. "We still have many leagues ahead." He walked over to Legolas and untied him from the tree. Legolas was brutally dragged to his feet by the chain. "You'll walk or be dragged." Hesid warned. He led Legolas to the center of camp and ordered Dernid to guard him. The company breakfasted, and Legolas wasn't even given the smallest bite of food. Legolas took his mind off food, knowing that he wasn't going to get any. _This gag has got to come out! _Legolas tried to spit the gag out, but it was too big. _Stupid thing…_

Hesid and the company finished eating and they wanted to start again. Legolas ran after Dernid, whose turn it was to pull Legolas along. He knew the consequences for lagging; run or be dragged. He wasn't in the mood for either.

The company halted for the afternoon.

"We should reach home by nightfall." Hesid announced.

_I need to escape. _Legolas was exhausted. _When they're resting, I'll try to sneak away. _Legolas was led to a tree, like a horse, and tied to it, like a dog. _Forget that idea…_ Legolas slumped down and drew his knees up to his chest. _I'm treated like an animal. _Legolas rested his chin on his knee. _Actually… I think an animal gets treated better than me… _Legolas' attention was now on his empty stomach. _It's been a day since I last ate anything… _Legolas again attempted to spit the gag out. He was getting annoyed and frustrated with it. _I can't get it out!_

"Here." Hesid threw some bread on the ground by Legolas. "If you can get that gag out, then you can eat it." He turned on his heel and left.

_If only I **could** get this gag out… _Legolas was getting desperate. He scraped his mouth against the tree bark. After awhile, the gag was lying on the ground and Legolas was debating on whether he should eat the bread or not. He decided it was for the best if he did. He soon found himself picking the bread up with his mouth. Disgusted, he ate the bread, but moments later, he wished he hadn't. He was feeling lightheaded and drowsy.

"Fell for it, didn't ya?" Hesid walked up to the drugged Elf and laughed. "Stupid creature." He chortled before untying Legolas from the tree. "On yer feet!" He pulled Legolas to a standing position, but Legolas fell down again. "Now!" He yanked the chain up and Legolas gasped for breath. He was roughly shoved to stand up. "Walk!" The man shoved Legolas forward. Legolas stumbled with each step and sometimes he tripped on the chain.

"Run, men, we'll be there tonight!" Hesid yelled.

Legolas was lagging behind. The bread's affect was slowing his body. He stumbled and fell forward.

"Ai! We'll never get home with it laggin' behind!" Dernid complained.

Hesid harshly kicked Legolas' side. Legolas moaned and was pulled to his feet by the chain.

"Get movin'." Hesid ordered.

Legolas' head spun. He needed to rest, or at least get a drink of water. He ungracefully ran with the rest of the company.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **ada is the Elvish word for dad.

**Responds to Reviews-**

**tinania legolinde- **Don't worry, I won't hurt him… _much_… _-_evil grin- and what comes after 'I' in your review?

**outofthebox- **And I don't take it as a flame:) Thank you! The advice is greatly appreciated!

**FrodoFever- **Thank you for the advice!:)


	3. Revelations

**Disclaimer- **I don't and won't ever own LOTR…

**A/N- **Thank you for the reviews!:D

**Chapter 3- **Revelations

Legolas was jerked down on the grass. The man that led Legolas, Dernid, tripped on a rock. Legolas moved his head to the side, since he couldn't do anything else with his hands bound, and spit out some grass that'd gotten into his mouth.

"Halt!" Hesid cried. He ran over to Dernid and helped him sit up. Legolas was, again, left unattended to. "Does this hurt?" Hesid asked while pulling the man's ankle straight.

Dernid cringed in pain. "Yes…" He moaned.

"Hang on, men. Looks like we'll be setting up camp here for awhile."

The men groaned. They wanted to get home to their families or go out and relax a bit.

"Stop yer complaining! We're men, not weak little Elves!"

The men sulked away and prepared to rest. Some men laid down, others sat down, and the rest played games.

"Do ya think it's broken?" Dernid asked between gasps.

"Might be. I don't know for certain." Hesid helped Dernid stand on his good foot.

_What about me? _Legolas attempted to at least roll onto his back. _They've all left me… they don't even care how they get me back to their city, just as long as I'm still alive… _

Hesid helped Dernid sit down on a fallen tree. "Rest here, I have some talking to do…" He walked over to Legolas and kicked him over with his foot. He then heaved Legolas' chain up. Legolas was helpless; the chain controlled his every movement. "You did this, didn't you?" He fiercely shook Legolas' shoulders. "Because of you, Dernid's injured."

Legolas was silent for a moment. He was thinking of how he could word his sentence.

"Speak!" Hesid shook Legolas violently.

Legolas started slowly, "I didn't do this. He tripped-"

"Stop makin' excuses fer yerself!" Hesid punched Legolas in the stomach.

Legolas cringed and groaned a little, he wanted to punch him back, but he couldn't. _Kick him._ Legolas' conscious thought, _No… I don't need any more problems… _He kept his head low, afraid to look the man in the eye.

"Stupid thing…" Hesid grumbled under his breath while taking Legolas' chain and walking back to Dernid. Legolas obediently followed, knowing that if he didn't, he would be severely punished.

"I don't want to do this, Dernid, but the Elf did injure you." Hesid helped him to stand up. "Down, Elf!" Legolas arched an eyebrow. Hesid pointed to the ground, "Down!" Legolas sighed and got to his knees. "Good." Hesid ruffled Legolas' hair, then he helped Dernid onto the Elf's shoulders. "Come!" Hesid pulled the chain and made him scramble to his feet. He pulled him to the front of the camp and addressed everyone, "Men, we're leaving now!"

The men got to their feet and formed a band behind their leader.

Hesid led on the company for many leagues until they got to their home, Sarnik.

The men cheered when the hills of the city appeared on the horizon. Legolas would've collapsed onto the ground if it weren't for Hesid holding the chain so tightly.

"Guards, open the gates for Hesid, son of Hensar." Hesid cried.

The gates were opened so that Hesid and his company could pass through.

"Got another one?" A guard laughingly queried.

Hesid held the end of the chain proudly. "Hard one, it was."

Legolas didn't heed to the comment. He was already sick of being talked about and treated like an animal.

"Thank you, men, for another successful capture!" Hesid dismissed the men and led Legolas to the healers, north of the gates.

When they arrived, Legolas saw that the little brick building was crumbling, the roof was made of straw and mud, and the floor was crawling with rats. _This is nothing like the House of Healing in Gondor…_ Legolas looked in disgust at the small, unsanitary building.

"Healer," Hesid addressed the only healer there, "please tend to Dernid. His ankle is damaged."

"Set 'em on that table over there." The healer was very busy, and didn't want to be bothered any further that day. "I'll be with 'em in a moment." She dodged to and from beds, caring for the most injured or sick first.

Hesid pointed to the floor, and Legolas obediently got down to his knees and waited. Hesid laughed at how easily he could command the Elf. He pulled Dernid onto a bed and whispered, "I'll be back soon." He dragged Legolas out of the building and led him east.

_This place looks awful. No glass in the windows, broken doors, houses made from sticks, only some are made of stone, and the roads are just plowed dirt. _Legolas stopped to examine a house, but he was roughly pulled along.

"No stopping!" Hesid jerked the chain.

They finally reached their destination, the dungeons. Hesid picked the foulest cell available. "In!" He shoved Legolas in and drew his knife while walking up to him. He cut Legolas' bindings and left, locking the cell door behind him.

Legolas sighed heavily. He hated being confined. All Elves hated it. His cell's walls were stained with blood, there were no windows, it was unbearably small, and the floor was littered with bones. Human bones. Legolas kicked a skull away and sat down in a corner. _Why couldn't he take this chain off too?_ He lifted the end of the chain and cast it aside. He clutched his stomach; it had been two days since he'd actually eaten a decent meal.

A cell guard peered into Legolas' cell. "Another one of them, huh?"

Legolas ignored it. He was too hungry to focus on anything else.

"Here." The guard held out an apple. "You look hungry."

Legolas looked up. He hesitated before he spoke. "You aren't going to drug me, are you?"

The guard shook his head. "No. I'm different then the other people in this city."

"Like how?" Legolas stood up and walked to the door.

"Like this." The guard pushed a dark lock of hair behind his ear.

Legolas gasped. "You're an Elf…" He stood, flabbergasted.

The guard nodded. "I'm here, hiding from them. I know what they do with the prisoners, and I don't want to end up like them."

"What becomes of them?" Legolas took the apple from the Elf's hand.

"They're put up for auction… a slave auction…" The Elf's eyes dropped to the ground.

Legolas' heart raced. "Please, let me out."

"I can't. Only the man who brought the prisoner in has the key." He paused. "I'm sorry."

Legolas slumped down, no longer interested in eating. The apple rolled out of his hand and across the floor before hitting the skull. He sat motionless for awhile. Then he crawled into the darkest corner he could find and curled up. Silently, there, he wept.

The guard turned around and sat down, worried for the captured Elf.

Legolas got out of his corner a few hours later. He walked to the Elf and asked, "How can you sleep like that?"

The guard opened his eyes and turned his head around. "If I sleep like a normal Elf, people would suspect something."

"I guess. That must've taken a long time to sleep with your eyes closed, though."

"Not really. It's actually quite soothing." The guard turned his head back.

"Do you have any water?" Legolas was thirsty after the ordeal of his capture.

"Of course." The guard handed Legolas his water flask. "Drink as much as you want."

Legolas took many long draughts. "Thank you." He handed the empty flask back.

"When's the last time you've drunk anything?" The guard stood and faced Legolas.

"Two days ago, at least." Legolas said while picking the fallen apple up.

"Right before they caught you?" The guard took the apple from Legolas' hand and dropped it on the ground.

Legolas nodded. "Yes."

"Are you hungry now?" The guard just remembered that Legolas hadn't eaten anything before he came in.

Legolas had completely forgotten about his hunger. "Famished."

The guard handed Legolas a fresh apple. "There's plenty more of those, too."

Legolas hungrily ate the apple and disposed of the core out in the corridor.

"Would you like another one?"

"Maybe later." Legolas sat down with his back against the bars.

"Tell me, uh…" The guard fumbled for words, "First, what is your name?"

"Legolas, son of Thranduil, prince of Mirkwood."

"Prince?" The guard stood shocked.

"What, then, is your name?"

"My name is Tirnen, son of Tiri."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet another Elf, Tirnen."

"Tell me, Prince Legolas-"

"Please, just Legolas." Legolas interrupted.

"Oh, sorry. Tell me, Legolas, how did they catch you?"

Legolas told of all the events that happened during his capture. Tirnen stood, interested in the prince's story.

"I see." Tirnen spoke after Legolas accounted his tale.

"Hey!" Hesid's voice boomed from the top of the stairs. "I've got good news for ya!" He flew down the stairs and went straight to Legolas' cell. "You're not gonna be here very long…" He smiled menacingly.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **Please review, I love to hear from you:D (ha, that rhymed…)

**Responds to Reviews-**

**Outofthebox- **Thanks for the comment! And Aragorn should appear later on in the story. I haven't thought of when yet, though…:/

**Troubles8806- **Thank you for the advice and comment!:)

**thesadness2003- **Aww…thank you!:D

**Mrs. Bloom- **Lol, yes, there will be more Legolas angst! Thank you for your review!:)

**Horsiegurl- **And happy holidays to you too! Thank you for the comment!:)


	4. Freedom is Just Another Trick

**Disclaimer- **I don't own LOTR or any of the characters.

**A/N- **… It's been a long time since I updated… sorry about that:( I had finals awhile ago and I needed to study before the tests, then after the finals I needed to rest a bit from all the typing and writing that I did. But again, I'm really sorry about that.

**Chapter 4- **Freedom is Just Another Trick

Hesid unlocked Legolas' cell and walked in. He stripped Legolas of his tunic, shirt, and boots. "You won't need these where you're going…" He grinned.

Tirnen bowed his head and said a silent prayer for the prince of Mirkwood.

Hesid laughed deeply, his grin bearing yellow teeth. "You're gonna fetch me a pretty penny…"

Legolas had had enough. He wrapped his hands around Hesid's throat and spoke calmly, "This is the last Elf that you will ever catch and sell…" His grip tightened.

Tirnen stood up and watched as the enslaver gasped and choked for breath.

"You'll never do this to another living creature again… be it Man or beast… Dwarf of Elf… nothing…" Legolas tightened his grip even further. Hesid's body fell limp in the Elf's hands and Legolas quickly cast it in the ground. He got his clothes on kicked Hesid's lifeless body into the corner.

"How will you escape?" Tirnen held the cell door open.

"I don't know. They'll suspect something when their leader doesn't return." Legolas looked in disgust at the body that lay motionless in the corner. "Do you know of any alleys through the city?"

"No, sorry, I don't…" Tirnen closed the door behind Legolas.

"Well, I suppose I should take my leave now." Legolas took Tirnen into an embrace and whispered "Hannon-le…" into the guard's ear.

Before Legolas left, Tirnen removed the chain around the prince's neck and whispered "Nocas." Legolas nodded and left the dungeons. Walking charily toward the city's gates.

"… alright. Thank you!" One of the men from the company left the armory. He was a tall man with a beard. He had a just whetted sword in one hand and the scabbard in the other.

_Oh no… _Legolas ran around the corner of a building, hoping that the man didn't see him.

"Hey, you!" Legolas' movement caught the man's eye. "Get back 'ere, you filthy urchin!" He ran around the corner and into an alley, but only to find that the passage was empty. Legolas' footing was slipping. He was just above the man, his back against one wall, and his feet against the opposing wall. "I know you're 'ere somewhere!" The man turned over discarded boxes and scoured the alley.

Legolas' foot slipped off the wall and knocked a stone free. The stone hit the man's head and his head quickly shot up. Legolas made an attempt to get away. He dropped down onto the man, bringing him down to the ground.

He rushed tantivy out of the alley with the man following. "Get it! Don't let it escape!" He rankled; he was getting annoyed with the Elf. "How'd that damn Elf get out anyway?" The man swore under his breath.

The obfuscated civilians in the streets formed a circle around the fugitive. Legolas prepared himself for a fight. He knew that he didn't want to fight, but to gain his freedom, he had to. He kept his fortitude high, ready to challenge any foe. He fought and killed many until a large, heavily armed man approached.

"You put up a good fight, Elf… but I'm afraid that it's just not good enough…" He drew his bow and quickly notched an arrow, but held it firmly in place. "Come quietly, or you'll get hurt." The man pulled the arrow back a little more.

Legolas bowed his head and let his arms hang limply at his sides.

"Restrain it." The man ordered. Some men advanced up to Legolas. When Legolas knew that the men were just a few feet away, he lunged forward toward the man with the bow. The man had his guard down, but when he saw Legolas running at him, he quickly raised his bow and shot the arrow.

The arrow hit Legolas' right shoulder. Legolas grunted, but didn't give up. He proceeded to run at the man, he could see how abject and useless that his attack was, but he didn't care. He wanted to fight for what he wanted. Freedom.

The man laughed and quickly shot another arrow. The arrow hit Legolas' hip. He fell to the blood stained ground, fearful about what was going to happen.

"That'll teach 'em not to escape…" The man kicked Legolas' side so that the Elf was lying on his back instead of his side. He firmly grasped the arrow's shaft and jerked it out. He did the same for the arrow protruding from the Elf's shoulder also. "Take it back to the dungeons…" The man, said, wiping the arrow's tips on Legolas' tunic, ridding them of the crimson blood.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **Review! I don't bite coughhard…cough hehe, no really, how could I possibly _bite_ you? Oh, and Hannon-le means thank you. Also, Nocas means be careful.

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**Bit of Vocabulary- **Some/if not all of these words are fairly new, so you might not find the definitions very easily… so here they are:)

**Chary- **Discreetly cautious.

**Tantivy- **In a headlong dash: at a gallop.

**Fortitude- **Strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage.

**Obfuscate- **To confuse.

**Rankle- **To cause anger, irritation, or a deep bitterness in. 2: to feel anger and irritation.

**Funny/stupid words that have nothing to do with the story…**

(This one's funny… it's now a word in the dictionary!) **Vamoose- **To depart quickly.

(This one's good too…) **Zeroth- **Being numbered zero in a series. (How can something possibly be numbered _zero_?!)

(I just came across this one!) **Tin-pot**…(how strange is that?! And you'll never guess the definition… it means "small-time". Wow… someone stayed up all night thinking of that word… rolls eyes)

_Definitions provided by Webster's dictionary… yes… these ARE real words:)_

**-----**

**Responds to Reviews-**

**Horsiegurl-** Thanks! I'm glad you like it!:)

**Troubles8806- **nervous laugh Sorry for the wait… I'll try and update sooner next time!:D

**Treestumpwitch- **lol, yes, Aragorn will make an appearance hopefully in the next chapter!

**Mrs. Bloom- **YAY!Well, there was chapter four:D

**XXblackflowerxX- **I'm glad to hear that you enjoy my story! That makes me happy!

**Jedi Gollum- **JEDI! YAY! Lol, hello! Is Cield tied up in your closet? A bit random I know… hehe:)


	5. The King

**Disclaimer- **lala… move along, I don't own LOTR or any of the characters:)

**A/N- **YAY! Quicker update:D (I've updated this, because Jedi noticed that some of the punctuation marks were missing! So I hope that this helps… thanks for pointing that out, Jedi!) ... It didn't work... -sigh- sorry, people but ff isn't letting me put the punctuation up:P

**Chapter 5- **The King

The man motioned for two men watching the fray to take Legolas back to his cell. The rugged men grabbed Legolas by his shoulders and roughly dragged him to the dungeon's entrance. Legolas couldn't keep his mind off of the pain that shot through his shoulder from one of the men's hands gripping his wound, digging his fingers into the torn flesh. He groaned when the other man finally got the door open. They dragged the Elf's limp, motionless body down the steps and up to Tirnen.

"This cell's open…" Tirnen said in a gruff voice, trying his hardest to keep his Elven voice concealed. He pointed to a cell that looked the nicest. It had a window and some straw, and that was about it, but it at least had more then some of the other cells.

The men dragged Legolas into the cell and slammed the door shut. "'Ere, make sure it don't get out ag'in." The man quickly shoved the key in Tirnen's hand while he walked past him. He left with the other man, leaving a quite confused and surprised Tirnen.

"Valar, Legolas, what did they do to you" Tirnen opened the door and sat down next to the older Elf. He propped Legolas' head up with the crook of his arm and eyed the wounds with disgust.

"They caught me…" Was all Legolas could manage to say.

Tirnen ran his slender hand through the Prince's hair soothingly. "You need medical attention." Tirnen examined the gaping wounds. He furrowed his brow when he came upon his chafed neck. "The healers here wouldn't dare touch or even help an Elf though…" He pulled out his water flask and gently dribbled some water on his neck and washed it clean of the blood and dirt. "Here, drink. You look as though you're going to pass out." Tirnen held the flask to Legolas' lips and bade him to drink some.

Legolas swallowed the water and asked in a raspy voice"Do you have any food"

"I'll get some." Tirnen helped Legolas sit against a near-by wall, and then he left the dungeons. Legolas waited as patiently as he could for Tirnen to return.

Tirnen returned with food, water, and bandages. "Glad to see you've got an appetite." He propped Legolas up again. "Here, I've got some bread, an apple, water, and bandages for your wounds." He handed him the food. Legolas hungrily ate the offered food and laid back in Tirnen's caring arms.

Tirnen slowly unbuttoned Legolas' tunic, so as to not to disturb the wound any further, and washed the deep arrow-wound clean. He took some bandages and wrapped them snugly around his shoulder. Then he buttoned his tunic up again and carefully slid Legolas' leggings down only far enough to see his wound. He cleaned that wound too and wrapped it in the same fashion as his shoulder.

Legolas swiftly fell asleep out of exhaustion when Tirnen finished with his bandaging. Tirnen laid him down on the straw and unclasped his brooch. He laid his cloak across Legolas' sleeping form. Then he silently kissed the prince's brow and said a silent prayer of protection. "Sleep well, mellon-nin." Tirnen walked out of the cell and closed the door behind him.

"Got another one." Said a short, fat man. He, with another, taller, slimmer man dragged the motionless body to the cell at the end. They roughly pushed the man in and quickly locked the cell door.

"I could hold onto that for ya, if you'd like." Asked Tirnen with his deepened voice.

"Nah. I'd rather keep it. Seen' as how you'd let 'em escape." The short man pocketed the silver key. He followed the tall man out of the dungeons.

Tirnen made sure that they were out of sight before he walked over to the newly occupied cell. "Are you alright" Tirnen asked between the steel bars. The man gave no response. "Hello" Tirnen called again, but still, no response came. Tirnen picked a stick up, stuck it between the bars, and gently prodded the man's shoulder, but the man didn't move. He prodded him a little harder, yet again; the man gave no response. Tirnen didn't want to harm him, so he put the stick down and got his flask of water. He walked back to the man's cell and splashed the man on the face. This time, the man at least responded to the water by furrowing his brow. "Good. You're at least alive. I was getting worried for a moment." Tirnen watched as the man opened his gray eyes.

'Where am I" The man struggled to sit up, but his arm was badly wounded and wouldn't hold much weight.

Tirnen didn't know how to say it without shocking the man, so he put it bluntly. "You're in a dungeon."

"Why" The man gave up on trying to sit up, so he was lying on his side.

"You were captured." Tirnen could hear an exasperated sigh escape the man's lips.

The man surveyed his surroundings. "So, are you friend or foe" The man looked Tirnen in the eye, knowing that he could catch him if he was lying.

"I try to help the captives here, so friend, I'd assume."

The man studied Tirnen's slender form. "You look of Sindarin origin… but that's impossible… why would an Elf be a guard here"

"You tell me." Tirnen pushed some dark hair off his brow, revealing his pointed ears.

The man was confused now. He struggled to get into a sitting position, but once again, he painfully failed. "What is your name" The man looked up at Tirnen.

"Tirnen, sir, Tirnen son of Tiri." Tirnen sat cross-legged in front of the man's cell. "And what might be your name"

"You can call me Strider." Strider didn't fully trust the Elf yet. He wanted to make sure that he could trust him completely before he gave out his name.

Tirnen gave a complying nod. "Alright, Strider, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here. It's nice to see a friendly face here in this place."

Legolas awoke to find his cell door closed again. He sighed heavily and painfully sat up. "Tirnen" He called"where are you"

"Legolas" The Ranger's head shot up.

"Ara" Legolas cut himself off. He remembered that Tirnen was still here. "Estel"

"Estel" Tirnen looked puzzled. "But didn't you say your name was 'Strider' just a moment ago"

"Yes, I have many names. Strider is just one of them." Strider was trying in vain to sit up.

"I see." Tirnen got up and unlocked Legolas' cell.

"Is Estel here" Legolas already knew the answer, but he just couldn't believe it. He wanted to jump to his feet and run to see him, but his gaping wounds wouldn't allow him.

"Yes. He's in the last cell." Tirnen helped Legolas slowly get to his feet.

Legolas desperately wanted to see his dear friend again. He didn't care if he was caught outside his cell; it was worth it. "Estel…" Legolas put his arm between the bars, trying to get as close as possible to his friend.

"Legolas…" Strider outstretched his arm. He truly wished that he could stand, or at least sit up. "How did you get here"

"I was captured… and you"

"Same here. I was walking outside the city when a man came up behind me and knocked me out. Next I know, I'm here, in a cell." Strider's head fell to his chest.

"Estel" Legolas' focus shifted to the floor, focusing on a small bug. "I'm going to be a slave soon…"

"What" Strider's head jerked up and he looked at his friend with wide eyes. "Why"

"I'm going up for auction soon."

"No…" Strider's eyes fell to the floor in desperation. "No… no… no…" He couldn't believe it. His friend a slave? No. He had to stop it. "Legolas, you must escape."

Legolas showed him his shoulder. "I've already tried that..."

Strider gasped, Legolas was still bleeding profusely. "You have to try again. Please, if not for yourself, then for me. I can't imagine you as a slave. Working for someone who thinks they're higher than you" He paused. "Please… just try…"

"I don't know how I'd get"

"Quick, Legolas, back to your cell. Someone's coming" Tirnen shoved Legolas back to his cell. Knowing that if he'd taken his time, they'd get caught and beaten. Once Legolas was safely back inside, Tirnen shut the door and locked it. He cast himself down by foot of the door and both of them awaited the man.

_Tbc…_

**-**

**A/N- **What? Were you expecting more? Well, you'll just have to wait like everyone else:) CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM WELCOME!

**Responds to Reviews-**

**Teha- **lol, I have a feeling that Tirnen will be making a lot of appearances;) Oh, and I have a little calendar that shows me a new word every day:)

**Zammy- **Thranduil might hear of his son's capture, but we'll have to see…;)

**Iccle fairy- **Aww… and Tirnen thanks you for the complement!

**Jedi gollum- **Do I want to know what happens to him? HAPPY BIRTHDAY (it's late, I know:P) Ha, very random indeed! HAM! Hehe:D

**Kestrel of Valinor- **(Oops… I'm really sorry for not responding to your review in the last chapter…) So thank you very much for your review! It means a lot to me that people like you are enjoying this little fiction:D


	6. Ascarlún, the Only Steed for Galion

**Disclaimer- **Gotta slap this disclaimer on. I don't own LOTR or any of the characters.

**A/N- **This chapter goes out to all of the people who wanted Thranduil to hear of his son's capture:)

**A/N #2-** I'm starting to see some more flaws in this story, but please, if you spot one or more, **inform me**. I more than likely won't change it, but then I'll know for future reference. It would just be too much of a pain to change the story so that the flaws didn't appear. I might rewrite this story and repost it with all of the flaws sorted out though. Might… I'm not sure… if I'm not too busy, I guess. It'll be up after this story is finished (if up at all, but I plan to redo it), so that I can get all the flaws.

**Chapter 6- **Ascarlún, the Only Steed for Galion

Thranduil gazed out the palace window. It was a clear day, hardly any clouds in the sky. A day that any Elf would enjoy, but not Thranduil. He was too worried over his son's sudden disappearance. "Oh, Legolas, where are you?" He slumped down further in his throne.

"My lord!" Galion burst through the palace doors into Thranduil's chambers. He was breathing hard, "Prince Legolas… captured…"

"What?" He boomed, "Why? Why weren't you there to help him?"

"I was, but Ascarlún got out and bit Menelvagor. I had to carry him to the healers."

Thranduil stood up and slammed his hands down on the throne's arms. "And that stopped you? Why was Ascarlún out?"

"He broke free, and, my lord, he drew blood. Menelvagor's wound needs to be sutured. If I didn't take him to the healers, then he would've died from blood loss." Galion sighed, frustrated, "It was a matter of life and death. Legolas was taken alive, and I'm sure he'll be kept alive."

"My only son…" Thranduil's head fell in his hands as his body collapsed to his knees. "Why?" He quivered, "Why Legolas?"

Galion walked over to Thranduil and placed his hand on the king's shoulder. "We'll find him, my lord." He rubbed the strapping shoulder in compassion.

The king of the Elves stood up, and addressed Galion, "You mean you'll find him." Said Thranduil, "Servants!" He cried, summoning his best and finest servants. The servants came into the hall and faced their king. "Please escort Galion to the stables. He'll need the fastest steed there is. I suggest Ascarlún."

"But, my king, Ascarlún isn't tamed yet." Galion pleaded, hoping to get a calmer steed.

"But since you went to help get Ascarlún back into the stables, instead of going after my son after you took Menelvagor to the healers, I'd think that you were fond of him." He gave a slight smile to lighten the situation. "Now, servants, go and get Ascarlún ready for the journey."

The servants did as commanded, and soon Ascarlún was ready to go. They did, however, have a hard time getting him to calm down enough to even get the tack on.

"Oh, and, Galion, if you come back without any word of my son, I'll personally relieve your shoulders of your head."

Galion swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "Yes, King Thranduil." He left to the stables to meet a very familiar face. His heart raced. He was about to ride a very aggressive steed, find the prince, and above all, if he didn't get word of the prince, Thranduil would kill him. "Hello, Ascarlún," He started, "are you ready to go?"

The creature's blue fur shone brightly, reflecting the morning light that poured through the window. His green eyes glinted, catching even the smallest trace of light. And his golden wings tucked neatly against the side of his ribs. He shifted in his stall, uneasy of the ride to come.

"It's alright. Just keep calm." Galion walked slowly with his arm extended, trying to touch the horse-sized creature. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." The creature moved restlessly. Then he finally got close enough to touch Ascarlún. Ascarlún wasn't so fond of having an Elf touch him though. He backed away, just out of Galion's reach. Galion unlatched the gate, and walked up to Ascarlún. "Come now, Ascarlún, I need you. Without your help, I'll have my head removed on the spot." He touched Ascarlún's soft fur again. Ascarlún flinched. Galion got closer to the creature, close enough to get his foot in the stirrup. "Don't move, Ascarlún." There wasn't a saddle, since that would weigh them down in flight too much, but rather a girth strap, stirrups, and a bridle. That isn't much, but it's all that the Elves need to stay mounted, and not fall off. Galion pulled his body up onto Ascarlún's back. "Stay calm, Ascarlún. Then this journey will be over soon." He checked to make sure that they both had enough supplies. Once he was sure that all was packed, he gave Ascarlún a light kick to get him to walk. Normally, he would use voice commands, but he knew that Ascarlún wouldn't obey them. Ascarlún didn't move; he stayed firmly where he was. "Ascarlún, ride on." Still, he didn't move. "Ascarlún, move." Still nothing happened. Galion kicked him a little harder, but that didn't get Ascarlún to move either. "Ascarlún, run!" This time he reached back and ran his finger along Ascarlún's flank. Ascarlún really detested that and he began to run out of the stall into the forest. He spread his golden feathered wings and began to beat them quick and steadily, until rider and steed were off the ground.

Galion could see the palace getting smaller and farther away. He was thankful that he wasn't scared of heights. Ascarlún kept a steady beat of his wings, the sun's warm rays shining brightly against his glimmering coat.

The sun was climbing high in the afternoon sky, and Galion decided that they should stop and make camp. He couldn't see Legolas anywhere, and there was no sign of him traveling this way. "Down, Ascarlún." And to Galion's surprise, Ascarlún descended. He landed on a patch of soft grass near a swiftly flowing stream. "Rest for now." Galion stroked Ascarlún's neck. Ascarlún didn't recoil; he even returned the stroke by nuzzling Galion's neck. Galion smiled, he was happy that Ascarlún was finally accepting him. "I'm going to see if Legolas traveled this way." Galion proceeded to walk off to find a trail, and Ascarlún walked up beside him. "You want to help too?" Ascarlún looked down at Galion. "I'll take that as a 'yes'."

The two searched the whole day, but they found no trace of Legolas. "Do you think that he's in a city or town somewhere?" Galion sat down, resting his aching legs. Ascarlún lay down next to him, and stretched out on his side. "Maybe he's held in a small town." Galion laid back on Ascarlún's back and gazed up at the moon. He sighed; he was beginning to think that this was very hopeless. Legolas could be held in any part of Middle-earth, and Galion couldn't return back to Mirkwood without word of Legolas' whereabouts. "We'll have to continue our search in the morning, after breakfast." Galion yawned. He rolled onto his side, and quickly fell asleep.

The sun rose slowly, spilling rose colored light over the plains. Galion awoke to Ascarlún licking his face. "Ascarlún, Valar, I'm up, I'm up." Galion wasn't too happy with Ascarlún licking him awake. He got to his feet and fished in the pack for some food. "Cured meat for Ascarlún, and _lembas_ for me." They both breakfasted quickly and got ready to set out again. Galion mounted Ascarlún, and Ascarlún began to run without even a voice command. He lifted into the air with ease, and before long, Galion could feel the chill morning air brush past his face.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **Thanks so much for all of the nice reviews! That was the most reviews that I've ever received in one chapter! Now how about trying to break that little record;) Oh, and the flank (the area just above the hips) on an animal is VERY sensitive! NEVER touch that part of a horse unless you know what you're doing. I still remember most parts of a horse from my riding lesions:) They were a lot of fun!

**A/N#2- **Here's a picture of Tirnen: h t t p : w w w .deviantart. c o m / v I e w / 14975953/ (fanfiction won't take it without the spaces… so just delete them.)

And a picture of Ascarlún: h t t p : w w w .deviantart. c o m / v I e w / 14975821/ (Tirnen is REALLY out of proportion… so ignore that:))

**Responds to Reviews- **

**Troubles8806- **Well, this chappy isn't a cliffie;) hehe, that's ok if you miss a few chapters! I'm just glad you're back:D The Estel question will be answered in the next chapter. But I'll just give you a little info now. Estel was captured, because he wanted to ban slavery, and of course, the men don't want that. And without Estel in Gondor, he technically can't ban it.

**Horsiegurl- **Thanks! Here's more! Well… hehe, there _was_ more:)

**Jordan- **The Elves are being captured, because the men felt like they were being put down by the Elves because the Elves are immortal, fair, elegant, etc… and the men wanted to feel higher than the Elves, so that's why they're enslaving them. Make sense? And look at my response to Troubles8806's review for the Estel question.

**Iccle fairy-** Ha, the typical situation thing is right! Thanks for the review.

**Sam611- **Thanks! I can see that you're enjoying this story:D

**Hisluv- **Don't worry. I don't plan to stop writing:)

**Zammy- **This chapter's for you then! Hehe, poor Galion…

**Teha- **hehe, "Legolas for Slave"…

**Gemini969- **Thanks! I appreciate that!

**Jedi Gollum- **Hehe, I'm psychic… that's how I know of ham…


	7. Of Elves, Men, and Elvish Nayonas

**Disclaimer- **-checks- nope, still don't own LOTR or any of the characters…

**A/N- **When you see ".oOo." in the story, it means that there's a switch in settings.

**A/N#2- **Some people are confused about Ascarlún. He's not a horse, but actually an Elvish nayona. I don't know why I didn't say their name in the last chapter. I was really tired when I wrote that, though. So sorry for any of the confusion that I've caused you.

**Chapter 7- **Of Elves, Men, and Elvish Nayonas

Footfalls were heard as a man came down the stone steps. He was a stout man, very rugged, and his beard fell to his chest. He wore a torn and tattered brown leather jerkin that had obviously seen many fights. He walked up to Aragorn's cell first, ignoring the Elves for the moment. "Get up!" The man shouted. When Aragorn didn't move, the man took out a key hidden in his pocket and opened the steel door. He pushed Aragorn to his feet, holding him up by his tunic. "Today's gonna be a different day fer ya." The man had a very unpleasant smile on his face whilst he spoke. "There's no way that you can abolish slavery with your head missin'." He pulled Aragorn out of the cell and ordered Tirnen to come over. "Clean him. I want all his wounds, scratches, and dirt cleaned off. Ya have an hour to do so." Tirnen nodded. The man left Tirnen to his work and walked out of the dungeons.

"Legolas, Estel's out of his cell." Tirnen opened Legolas' door and helped him to his feet.

"He's out?" Legolas hurriedly walked out of his imprisonment with Tirnen, careful not to hurt himself any further. "Estel!" He cried, now running ungracefully to his fallen friend. Pain shot through his body, but Legolas ignored it, he was too preoccupied about his friend.

"Hello, Legolas, quite a predicament that we've fallen in…" Aragorn's voice was dry and raspy when he spoke.

"Shh, don't talk." Legolas knelt down next to the Ranger. "Tirnen, where do these people keep their water?" Legolas faced the guard.

"Hang on, I'll get some." Tirnen walked over to what looked like a closet of some sort. He pulled out a bucket of water and a rag. After getting the needed items, he walked back to the Elf and man. "Here's the water, Legolas." He set the bucket down and draped the rag over the side of the bucket.

Legolas unlaced Aragorn's tunic and shirt. He wetted the rag and started to scrub the dirt off his chest. He was more careful, though, when he washed his wounds. Aragorn winced when Legolas washed a particularly deep gash.

"That hurt?" Legolas noticed when Aragorn shut his eyes and drew in a deep breath. Aragorn gave a slight nod. "I'll try and do this a little more gently then." He continued to wash and scrub at Aragorn's skin, until all the blood and dirt was gone. "Aragorn, do you have any wounds on your legs?"

The ranger shook his head. "None that I know of."

"Then I'm done. Here, let's get you to your feet." Legolas slid his arm under Aragorn's back and bade Tirnen to come over. Tirnen copied Legolas and also slid his arm under Aragorn's body. Legolas took a deep breath, knowing that this action would cause him pain. The two Elves heaved Aragorn up to his feet. They supported Aragorn by slipping their arms under his shoulders and they walked back into his cell. Gently, they set him down, propping his back up against the wall.

"What do we do now?" Tirnen said, retrieving his arm from under Aragorn's stout shoulder.

"I don't know. Escaping is out of the question with Aragorn in this condition; and I'm not leaving without him." Legolas looked sadly upon his mortal friend.

.oOo.

Ascarlún flew for a while, Galion always keeping a keen, Elven eye out for any sign of Legolas' passing. "There! Down there! Ascarlún, quick, land here!" Ascarlún landed on the green grass, and Galion dismounted. He bent down and picked up a shred of green suede leather. "Legolas." He gripped the strip in his hand. The men trampled the grass; leaving it bruised and tainted. "They took him north." Galion looked up from the trail to the north. "The only city north of here is Sarnik, although, they could've taken him elsewhere." Galion rose and mounted Ascarlún, preparing himself for the long search ahead. " Ascarlún, head to Sarnik first, it's directly north of here. "Ascarlún rose into the air and flew north, just as Galion directed.

.oOo.

The man came back, and again, headed towards Aragorn's cell. He was shocked when he got there though. Legolas, Tirnen, and Aragorn were in the same cell; the Elves were too preoccupied to even notice the man when he was standing in the doorway. "Hey, guard!" He commanded

Tirnen's head jerked back, realizing that the man stood in the doorway. "I was just helping him get back to his cell." Tirnen said the first excuse that came to his mind.

"Then why is that in there?" The man was referring to Legolas.

Tirnen was lost for words. He couldn't come up with even the simplest excuse. "It…" Tirnen stumbled over the words, "It… wanted to…" He stumbled again, "see… the man…"

"Why?" The man demanded, starting to suspect Tirnen.

"It'd never seen a man before." Tirnen hated referring to Legolas as an 'it'.

"Yah? Well, bring it out here." The man suspected Tirnen was an imposter.

Tirnen did as he was told and got Legolas to his feet. They walked out of Aragorn's cell and into the corridor.

The man wound a chain around Legolas' wrists. Then he wound the end of the chain around a bar, so he couldn't escape. "You've been too nice, guard." The man advanced towards Tirnen. "Guards are supposed to be mean, and ya ain't!" Tirnen backed up against a wall. The man grabbed Tirnen by his shoulders and shoved him hard against the wall. He forcefully pushed his hair behind his ear, revealing an elegantly pointed ear. "Why ya dirty, sneaking little Elf… you'll pay dearly for this." He replaced his hand on Tirnen's shoulder and turned him around so that his face was pressed firmly against the stone. The man pulled Tirnen's arms behind his back and pulled out a rope. He quickly wound it around the Elven wrists. The bond was cruelly tight, and if Tirnen moved his hands, even just a little, the rope would soon chafe his skin. "Now come. Hesid might've been too foolish to treat such a prize like that; it decreases their value. I'll be lucky to even get two silver pennies for ya." The man looked at Legolas' poor state. His wounds were healing, leaving white scars. "Foolish Hesid." The man cursed. "Without all those wounds, you'd fetch a very high price." The man's gaze shifted to Tirnen. "But you'll fetch me a nice price…" He took Tirnen's jaw in his hand and moved it to the side, examining his state.

Tirnen spit in the man's face. The man let go of him to wipe it off, and Tirnen stuck his head in-between the bars of a cell door.

"What are ya doing, Elf?"

The man reached to pull Tirnen back, but Tirnen quickly warned, "I'll end my life here if you try and sell Legolas." Tirnen moved his head to the side slightly, showing how he could easily snap his neck.

"Ya mean that you'd kill yerself just to save this one that's probably gonna die anyway?"

"It's better than having to be a slave for eternity, and knowing that Legolas is a slave too." He turned his head back to its original place. "I'm worth more than him anyway. Wouldn't it be more of a loss to you if I died? A dead Elf wouldn't sell for anything on the market."

The man stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Alright, he can go. You stay."

Tirnen pulled his head out from the bars. "So let him go."

"Nah, I changed my mind." The man grabbed Tirnen before he could get his head back in-between the bars. "Stupid Elf, you shouldn't have trusted me. The man laughed at how ingenious he thought he was. He unwound the chain from the bar and took Legolas and Tirnen out of the dungeons.

"You were willing to give your life for me?" Legolas whispered to Tirnen.

"Of course." Tirnen smiled, lightning the mood. He also added in a whisper, "I would rather see the Prince of Mirkwood at home with his adar, than in slavery."

"Both of ya, in!" The man shoved his captives into a small, dark room. The room was filled with other Elves from all over Middle-earth.

"Haldir?" Legolas walked over to the form sitting in the corner. Haldir looked up and noticed Legolas squatting in front of him. "Captured too?"

Haldir gave a slight nod, "Yes, I fought to keep the borders of Lorien clear, but I failed. Every Elf that didn't leave for Valinor, was taken."

"So they're taking every Elven dwelling?" Legolas bit his lip. "If Lothlorien was taken, then Rivendell and Mirkwood will be next."

"Elrond will stay in Rivendell, no matter what"

.oOo.

Ascarlún and Galion soon saw the city of Sarnik appearing on the horizon. "We're almost there, Ascarlún. Remember that these men hate Elves, and I'm sure that they hate Elvish nayonas too." Galion drew in a deep breath. He clutched Ascarlún's wings nervously; he wasn't sure how this would work out.

When they came upon the city's gates, Ascarlún flew over them and landed in a clear spot. "There's no one here." Galion said, dismounting. "I wonder where they all are."

"Halt!" A gatekeeper cried. "Who are you, and why have you come?"

"I'm Frus, son of Fruseir." Galion blurted out random words. "And I come here on a trip."

"What's that then?" The gatekeeper cocked an eyebrow. He was looking at Ascarlún.

"That's a very special steed." Galion was trying to buy time as to a new name for Ascarlún.

"Alright, but _what_ is it?" The gatekeeper flinched when Ascarlún flicked his wing, trying to get a feather back in place.

"He's a Dwarvish horse." Galion almost blushed at how stupid that sounded. "His name is Thor." Galion didn't even know if that was even a real name.

"Thor, the Dwarvish horse, and Frus, son of Fruseir." So where do you come from?"

"We come from Bree." _Bree? What? This is the most messed up story that I've ever told_ Galion smiled meekly, afraid that the keeper would expose them for frauds.

"Alright, sounds good. You should check out the slave auction today. There's some good Elves up this time." The gatekeeper returned to his post.

"Ascarlún, lets go to that auction. Legolas could be there." Galion whispered into the Elvish nayona's ear. "Keeper, where's this auction being held?"

"Go straight from here, and take a right at the blacksmith's."

Galion nodded his thanks and led the way to the auction. "Ascarlún, come." Ascarlún followed the Elf to the place where the auction was taking place, and there they had to talk with another keeper. "Keeper, let us through."

"Who are ya, and why should I do that?"

_So many questions…_ "I'm Frus, son of Fruseir." Galion lied.

"What's that?" The keeper was also referring to Ascarlún.

"He's Thor, a Dwarvish horse."

"How can a Dwarf even get on top of that thing?" The keeper arched an eyebrow.

"They use ladders." Galion's mind wasn't used to making up so many excuses.

"Alright, so what are _you_?" The keeper unsheathed his sword, trying to throw him off.

"I'm an Elf." Galion was too preoccupied with the sword, so he didn't think before he spoke. _And I was doing so well before…_ "Ascarlún! Come, we have to depart!"

"ELF!" The keeper shouted, "GET 'EM!"

Galion quickly swung upon Ascarlún's back and they began to take flight. They were airborne until a rope was tossed around Ascarlún's neck, pulling the creature and rider to the ground.

"Another Elf for sale, and a nice, shiny new pelt." The keeper fingered his sword whilst he walked up to Ascarlún. "Your hide's gonna look nice in my house." Ascarlún was held firmly down. No matter what he did to get free, he couldn't break the ropes. Galion was being held back by two strapping men. He cursed at the men for holding him back, and at the man who was going to kill King Thranduil's fastest steed.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **Adar father in Elvish. Thor… isn't he the Viking god of thunder? WOW! This chapter's long! And this Author's note is random! HAM! Hehe, Jedi;) Oh, and it may seen like _everyone's_ getting captured, but it's not always going to be like this. I mean, if it was, then there'd be no hero in the end:)

**Responds to Reviews-**

**Lyn- **You make a very interesting point. I know that the extensive dragging, beating, and stuff like that will decrease his value (sheesh, sound's like I'm talking about a car…), but the men in the camp really could care less. Hesid got very annoyed with Legolas, and so he didn't care how he got Legolas back to the city, just so Legolas was alive when they got there.

**Aranel of Mirkwood- **Actually, I was just thinking of that same thing last month… weird… but anyway… I was already too far in the story when I actually thought of that to fix it… and _now_ trying to fix it would be a NIGHTMARE!

**Kestrel of Valinor- **Yay! I'm a talented writer-beams- Thanks! I appreciate the compliment a lot:D

**Jedi Gollum- **Well, it's like this, I wanted to keep the creature's name a little secretive… I actually don't know why though n.n;… just to add a little mystery or something really stupid like that… I don't know… I was a little tired when I wrote that though:P

**Horsiegurl- **hehe, actually he's not a horse:) He's an Elvish nayona. I made them up when I was like 5 or so… and they just stuck with me all this time!

**Iccle fairy- **No, Legolas didn't appear in that chapter. I wanted to focus on Galion and Thranduil only. And sorry to disappoint you, but he's not a horse:)


	8. No Elf is Left Standing Free

**Disclaimer- **I don't own LOTR or any of the characters… and I never will…

**A/N- **I have A LOT of stuff to do… Mythology's taking a lot of my time up… but after that, we get to read _The Hobbit_! YAY! I can't wait! I'm going to pass all of those tests:D And I get to talk about Galion! So I'm happy about that . But since my friend Jenna asked for chapter eight, I typed it:D HI JENNA! Hehe, I know you're reading this, Pimm…

**Chapter 8- **No Elf is Left Standing Free

"Stop!" A man yelled, running out from inside the auction building.

"Why should I?" The keeper lowered his sword.

"Because you can sell that creature for a high price." The man kept his eye on Ascarlún.

"This is none of your concern." The man lifted his sword again, readying himself for the final cut.

_I have to buy some time for Ascarlún. _Galion fell limp in the men's grip, feigning to have fainted.

"Seld, It fainted." The man on Galion's left lifted the limp shoulder.

Seld, the keeper who was about to kill Ascarlún, turned on his heel and walked towards the 'fainted' Elf. He lifted his head and examined it, dropping it after he was sure that Galion had actually fainted. "Take it to the holding chamber." When he walked back to Ascarlún, he yelled. Ascarlún was tearing out his own fur. The Elvish nayona winced every time he grabbed a mouthful of fur and pulled. "No! Stop that!" Seld ran up to Ascarlún and groaned. "Now I'll have to wait until it grows back." He grumbled, "Take it to the holding chamber too, but make sure it doesn't get sold."

The men pulled the resisting Elvish nayona into the chamber and pulled out a chain to restrain him. "There, now don't go and kill the Elves in here. They're to be sold later." Ascarlún snapped at the man's face, almost biting his nose, but the chain held him firmly back.

"What are these Elves doing without being chained down?" Seld walked in and looked at Legolas and Tirnen. He grabbed their bindings and pulled them away from the Marchwarden. Over at the other side of the room, he tied them to the wall by tying their bindings on hooks that were welded onto the stone. Once sure that all was fine, the men left the Elves to sulk in the dark room.

Legolas looked up, "Ascarlún, Galion?" He just now noticed that his butler and his adar's steed also occupied the room. "They've taken Mirkwood too?"

"No, my price." Galion awoke from his 'fainted' state. "King Thranduil told me to come and look for you with Ascarlún."

"He must be so worried…" Legolas' knees collapsed, causing his body to follow them to the ground.

Ascarlún tried to break his bindings by thrashing, but the chains held strong.

"Calm, nayona." Haldir motioned for the Elvish nayona to sit down. "Fighting will do no good; it'll only drain you of your strength." Ascarlún slowly calmed down. He was soon standing with his head drooping to the ground.

Tirnen slumped down. "It's hopeless…" His head fell back against the wall. "We're never going to get free."

Night came and the stars shown brightly. They spread their golden light over everything. Some light spilt through the window, casting shadows of the captured Elves. Ascarlún looked over at Galion; he was shaking from the cold air that rushed through the window. Ascarlún was tethered to the wall, just like everyone else, but his chain was long enough so that he could lie down next to the shivering Elf.

"Thank you, Ascarlún." Galion said as he quietly slipped into sleep. Ascarlún laid his head down next to Galion's and also fell asleep.

The morning came, but the sun's light didn't make the situation any better. The Elves slowly awoke from their dreams, only to wake into a nightmare.

Ascarlún nudged Galion's face with his nose. "Not now, Ascarlún…" Galion raised his hand over his head to stop Ascarlún from waking him. Ascarlún began to lick Galion's face, knowing that he hated it, and he would then wake up. "Ascarlún, stop." Galion sleepily pushed Ascarlún's head away. Ascarlún was getting desperate to wake Galion. He nudged the side of Galion's abdomen, hoping that that would get him up. "Ascarlún, enough! Let me sleep." Galion rolled onto his stomach and covered his head with his hands. Ascarlún walked over to where Galion lay, grabbed the back of his tunic, and pulled. Galion fought to get to his feet. Ascarlún dropped the leather once Galion was to his feet. "Why did you want me awake? Can't I even sleep without you bothering me?" Galion groaned irritably, he hated getting up early without a reason.

Ascarlún motioned to Legolas' spot. He and Tirnen were being taken away.

"Prince Legolas!" Galion ran until the chain pulled taught with a snap. "Legolas, no!" Galion watched in despair as the prince and guard were taken out the door. "Legolas…"

Another man walked in and up to Haldir. He unwound the chain from the wall very hastily and took him out of the building.

Men walked in and out of the building. Each of them coming in with nothing, and leaving with an Elf. Seld even came into the building. He walked up to Galion and unbound the chained Elf from the wall. Ascarlún protested to that by madly clawing at the air. He wasn't able to hurt the man because his chain held him back. The man took no notice of him and led Galion out of the door.

The auction took many hours. In the end, there wasn't even one Elf still standing free. Galion was taken by a blacksmith, Legolas and Tirnen were kept together, they were taken by an armory shop owner, and Haldir had been taken by a stable owner.

"How much you want for that?" The stable owner who bought Haldir asked. He pointed to Ascarlún.

"That's not fer sale." Seld folded his arms across his chest.

"Fifty silver pennies."

"That won't even buy ya half."

"One hundred and fifty silver pennies." The stable owner was determined to get Ascarlún.

"Ya don't even have that much." The keeper was starting to walk away until the stable owner pulled out a large sack.

"You sure?" The man threw the sack of coins on the ground. It hit the dirt with a thunk.

Seld turned on his heel and eyed the sack of coins. He bit his lip, unsure of what to do. "One fifty?"

"One hundred and fifty silver pennies." The stable owner reassured.

The keeper stroked his short beard thoughtfully. "Two hundred." He tried to get a higher price.

"One hundred and fifty," That's all." The man nudged the sack closer to the keeper.

"Alright, one fifty." Seld reached for the sack.

"No, first I want my part of our little deal." The stable owner snatched the sack back.

"Fine." Seld left and got a very aggravated Elvish nayona out of the holding chamber.

The stable owner took the chain from his hand and threw the sack of coins near Seld's feet. "Here, help me." The stable owner handed Haldir the chain. "You let that free, and I'll beat you." The man threatened. Ascarlún calmed down a little with Haldir holding the chain. "Come, it's a long walk home." The man led his newly acquired slave and steed out of Sarnik.

They walked countless hours. The man always in back, watching Haldir lead Ascarlún to make sure that they didn't escape.

The sun sank further into the darkening sky. "We're walking through the night." The stable owner shouted. Haldir groaned, hoping to have a break soon, but that hope soon came crashing down.

After many tiring leagues, they finally reached the stables. They were by a small, cozy house, right next to a field filled with many delectable vegetables. Corn, potatoes, wheat and lettuce were scattered throughout the plot of dirt. Haldir's stomach growled; he couldn't even remember the last time he ate anything. Seld put Ascarlún into the stables and temporarily tethered his chain to a post.

"You will work here. If you disobey an order, you'll be severely punished. If you do an exceptional job, you may be rewarded." The man took Haldir to a small, broken house. "This is where you will be sleeping." The man pointed to a bed that looked to be even too small even for a Hobbit. "You will only get sleep once you finish all of your work. Rise every morning at sunrise. And even if you don't get any sleep, you still have to work." The man pulled Haldir back to the stables. "You will work here, unless I tell you otherwise." They next moved into the man's house. "This is my house, you aren't allowed in, unless I tell you to come in." The man took Haldir into the field. "You may work in the field, it depends on what's there to be done." The man pulled out a long silver whistle. "This is if you run away or try and harm me." The man blew a long, shrill note into the whistle. A howl answered the call, followed by barking and the running feet of wolves. "They'll hunt you down and kill you, no matter where you are." The wolves sniffed Hal, implanting his scent in their minds. "No use having a slave that'll only run away."

The man dismissed the wolves and took Haldir to a great tree. There were some red coals burning in a pit by the tree. He picked up some worn rope hanging from the tree. He bound Haldir to the tree in such a way, that Haldir's face was pinned against the rough bark. He took a cloth out of his pocket and stuffed it in Haldir's mouth, preventing any screams that would escape his lips. "I'll get that other creature too." The man went into the stables to fetch Ascarlún. Upon returning with Ascarlún, the man also had an iron bar in his hand. He tied Ascarlún to the tree with Haldir and stuck the bar on the fiery coals. "Now, which one of you wants to be first?" The man said chortly, taking the bar off the coals once the metal was red. "How about the steed?" Ascarlún snorted and backed away as far as he could from the man. "Fine, the Elf's first then." The man pulled Haldir's leggings down to his knees. Haldir growled at the man, not knowing what else to do. "Shut up. This'll be over soon." The man pressed the searing hot metal against the back of the Elf's hip. Haldir's muffled cries were filled with pain and agony. The man pulled the branding iron back away from Haldir's hip, revealing a red mark shaped like a rearing horse with an "N" in the middle. The man smiled, satisfied with the brand. "Now, you." The man heated the brand up a little more before approaching the Elvish nayona. Ascarlún was forcefully pulled toward the man. The man quickly pushed the brand against Ascarlún's hindquarters and retrieved it just as quickly as he placed it. "You two now belong to me." The man set the iron bar down and pulled Haldir's leggings up. "You will refer to me as 'master' and nothing else."

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **Nine reviews, just like the nine in the company of the ring! YAY! I can relate things to other things! Oh, and I got the branding idea from Jedigollum. It was used with permission:) Thanks, Jedi:D

**Responds to Reviews-**

**Jedi Gollum- **HA! NEVER! I'll never let go of Haldir! Do you like cheese?

**Marauding-siriusly- **Yes, stupid Galion. He never was the best at hiding his identity… but he makes a great butler;)

**Troubles8806- **It's alright, you don't need to apologize:) Thanks for the review:D

**Kestrel of Valinor- **Thanks:D

**Horsiegurl- **Good! I'm glad that it's not confusing anymore.

**ElvenRanger13- **Glad to hear that:D

**Karone Evertree- **No, Legolas wasn't a slave before. To the men, Elves are thought of as too skinny. I hope that that has helped out a little.

**Aranel of Mirkwood- **Poor Tirnen, but then again, I couldn't just leave him in those dungeons;)

**iccle fairy- **The twins _might_ make an appearance soon… I've thought about it, but I don't think that they'll make an appearance… but I do have good news for you:) Faramir will come in later on:D


	9. Kept in Slavery

**Disclaimer- **I think you've all seen this enough to know that I don't own LotR or any of the characters…

**A/N- **There's this ".oOo." thing again. It just means that you're switching to another character's story.

**Chapter 9- **Kept in Slavery

Haldir and Ascarlún were roughly untied. The man brought them back into the stables, where he took the girth strap off of Ascarlún. Underneath the strap, there was sweat and dirt. "Ai, don't you Elves know how to care for steeds?" The man took the bit out of Ascarlún's mouth, and hung the bridle over a post. He then forced Haldir to work there the rest of the remaining day.

Once finished with all his assigned jobs, Haldir was too exhausted to even walk back to the little house that was given to him. He crawled over to Ascarlún and collapsed, quickly falling asleep soon afterwards. Ascarlún could feel Haldir's heart beat against the side of his rib. He was glad that the marchwarden was still well. To keep him warm, Ascarlún laid his head down next to the sleeping form. There, they slept soundly for the night, comforted by the presence of each other.

A swift sunrise came, waking the Elvish nayona. Ascarlún looked down to find Haldir still deeply asleep. Ascarlún nudged Haldir's neck, trying to wake him gently, but Haldir didn't respond to the nudging. Ascarlún stood up, hoping that the movement would wake him, but again, Haldir didn't respond. Not knowing what else to do, Ascarlún nudged the back of Haldir's hip. Haldir winced; the brand still burned on his fair skin. He awoke with a groan, not wanting to face the challenges that the new day was to bring.

"Hello, Ascarlún." Haldir said, getting up. He stroked Ascarlún's neck; "Did you at least sleep well?" Haldir held the back of his neck.

"Why weren't you in your quarters, slave?" The man came back into the stables with an aggravated look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I just collapsed here." Haldir spoke the truth.

"Well, we'll see if you just collapse in the fields." The man shoved a scythe in Haldir's hands. "The grass needs to be cut." The man walked over to Ascarlún. "It's getting really skinny." He ran his hand underneath Ascarlún's stomach. "What do they eat?"

"Meat," Said Haldir, "They're carnivores."

"Carnivores, huh?" The man furrowed his brow, displeased at how high the price of meat was. "Well, we'll just see how well of a job you do tonight, slave." The man smiled at Haldir's confused expression. "You'll see what I mean soon enough…" Haldir turned back around to go work in the field.

.oOo.

Legolas and Tirnen were roughly thrown on the cold, stone ground. "You two are mine now." Their new master, the armory shop owner, sneered. "I needed some new victims to test out my swords and armor." The man smiled menacingly, "You two don't want to know what happened to the last ones that tested here…" He motioned to some dead bodies piling up and rotting in the corner. "Should really get to disposing those things."

Tirnen's expression went blank, he wasn't sure of what to think. All he could hope was that he and Legolas would survive the night.

"You two can sleep wherever you find room in here." The man said coldly, "Since it's almost sunset, I'll give you the rest of this day to get adjusted." The man was about to leave, but then he just remembered something. "The borders here are well-protected, trying to escape would be useless." With that, he left the two Elves in solitude.

"My worst fear is now a reality…" Tirnen shook his head in disbelief. "I'm now a slave to another being…"

"Don't worry, Tir, we'll escape somehow." Legolas put his hand on the younger Elf's shoulder in compassion.

Tirnen nodded slightly. "We will have to rest and think of a plan." He picked his way to a corner and bid Legolas to follow. Soon, the two friends were planning their escape route.

.oOo.

"Since father has given you to me, that makes you my new slave." Galion's new master smiled sweetly. Galion was then kindly led to a nice, feather bed. "This is where you will sleep every night. Get to bed at sunset and wake at sunrise. Your meals will be brought to you every morning, afternoon, and evening." She smiled sweetly, taking a swift liking to him. After the bedroom, came the kitchen. "You will work here most of the time. Baking, cooking, or cleaning. And since you're an Elf, I'm sure that all of your dishes will be quite good." She giggled a little after saying that. "Wash up at the stream before coming back into the house." She continued, "You are welcome to come in the house anytime after you finish your jobs."

She dismissed Galion with his first assignment. He was to wash all the dishes and sweep the floor afterwards. Being a butler, he was used to obeying orders without complaining. Galion got to work, and very efficently, he finished both the jobs in just a little over an hour.

"You sure are quick." Galion's master walked back into the kitchen and smiled.

"Thanks, master." Galion sighed.

"Oh, you can call me Isabel." Isabel gave him a warm smile.

"Isabel." Galion smiled a slight smile back to her.

"Well, the sun's about to set. Go wash up and return here." Isabel said, "But don't even think about escaping. Bounty hunters looking for stray Elves are probably just waiting to get their hands on you."

Galion sadly nodded his understanding, and walked out the door down to the stream.

.oOo.

Many tiring hours passed and Haldir was just finishing up. Sweat beaded and dripped off his brow. With one last swipe of the scythe, the last patch of grass was cut.

"Alright, you've done enough for the day." The man didn't want to wear out his slave so soon, "Here's a reward for doing a good job." The man handed Haldir some food. The first amount of food that Haldir had had in awhile. He ate the food hungrily. "Now off to your quarters, slave." Haldir did as he was told; he walked back to the little house and awaited his master.

The man walked in and gave Haldir a blanket. "Can't have you freeze to death." Haldir took the blanket from the man's hands.

He walked to his little bed, feeling rather tired and worn. _Well, I survived another day…_ Haldir yawned, crawling into the small bed. He uncomfortably fell asleep underneath the wool blanket. The man left once he was sure that his slave was deeply asleep.

.oOo.

Morning came and the two Elves hadn't gotten a minute's sleep, for they were far too busy with their plans.

"So tonight, then?" Tirnen reassured. He yawned, just now noticing that the sun's warm rays were pouring softly into the room.

Legolas nodded and stifled a yawn, for their master had just come into the room.

"Good, you're up." The man gave the Elves some newly forged helms and swords. "Time to get to work, slaves."

"How?" Tirnen braved a question.

"How, what?" The man turned around.

"How do we test these out?"

"On each other, idiot." The man rolled his eyes, "Do I have to teach you everything?" Legolas and Tirnen looked at each other. "Now, try them." Frustration edged the man's voice.

Legolas and Tirnen put the helmets on, but they couldn't bring themselves to fight.

"Fight, damn it!" The man stomped his foot on the stone floor.

The Elves stared at each other and dropped their swords, understanding that neither of them wanted to fight one another.

The man growled angrily and picked the fallen swords up. "You," he pointed to Tirnen, "sit over there." Tirnen reluctantly did as he was commanded and sat down in an empty spot on the floor.

Alternating between the two Elves, the man tested out many swords and armor designs. Finally satisfied with his choices in weaponry, he left the Elves alone again.

"Legolas," Tirnen groaned, "I don't think we can survive another night…"

Legolas nodded weakly. "That's why we're leaving tonight." He coughed, "It's tonight or never."

Tirnen wiped the dripping blood off his arm; "We better tend to our wounds, Legolas." He saw a bucket of water and a couple of rags lying on the floor. He picked them up and walked back over to Legolas. "Here, Legolas." Tirnen handed Legolas a rag from the bucket. He sighed, " I have wounds all over my body." He took his tunic and shirt off and began to wash all of the drying blood off. Legolas proceeded to do the same. Once their upper bodies were clean, they needed to wash their legs; so both of them stripped out of their remaining clothing and washed the blood off their legs.

Whilst they finished, the man came back in. "Here, I brought you some food." He set the tray down on the floor and left once again.

Tirnen and Legolas got their leggings on and walked over to the food. They each took equal shares and ate without content.

.oOo.

Galion returned, his golden hair dripping wet, and his boots held in his hands.

"There's fresh fruit on the table. And after you eat, get to bed." Isabel waved him good night, before she slipped off to her quarters.

Galion took a pear and ate it whilst he walked to his bedroom. _I need to escape here somehow… but for the time being, I don't really mind being here. _He thought, lying on the bed. _Legolas never treated me this nice… in fact, he really never really treated me nice at all… _Galion frowned at the memories of a little Elfling playing tricks on him all the time. He laughed at some memories of himself pranking the little Elfling back. He sighed and fell asleep on the feather bed.

.oOo.

When the sun fell, Haldir awoke to the cramps developing in his legs. His legs were stiffening from the curled position that he resumed to lay in. He got out of bed and quietly walked under the moonlight to the stables. Ascarlún was there, asleep on the straw in his stall. "Ascarlún, wake up." Haldir whispered in Ascarlún's ear. Ascarlún's eyes opened and peered up at Haldir who was leaning over him. He stood up and looked at the moon, trying to figure out why Haldir had awoken him.

"Now, Ascarlún, let us leave quietly." Haldir said, stoking Ascarlún's neck. Ascarlún wasn't normally fond of new riders, but under the life or death condition, he obeyed. Haldir took the pack off the post and slung it over his shoulder before mounting Ascarlún.

Quietly, Ascarlún began to leave the stables; carefully placing his foot, so not to step on anything, he walked out under the moonlight. The slim moon was falling in the sky, shedding his last light before quietly slipping beneath the hills. Ascarlún ran quickly, spreading his feathered wings as he did so. Quickly beating them, Ascarlún was able to lift himself off the grass and into the starry sky.

"Head to Mirkwood first. We'll see King Thranduil and tell him of Legolas." Haldir clung onto Ascarlún's wings, trying to stay mounted.

Ascarlún flew until the sun rose. Finally stopping in the courts of King Thranduil's palace. Servants and guards stopped what they were doing and rushed to where the Elvish nayona stood.

"Prince Legolas!" Menelvagor shouted, pushing his way through the mass of bemused Elves. "Legolas?" He looked disappointedly upon Haldir. "Where is Prince Legolas?"

"First, where is King Thranduil?" Asked Haldir, dismounting.

"He has left. He said that no one could follow him; he didn't want to endanger any more Elves." Menelvagor looked sadly down. "But where is Prince Legolas? Has he fallen?" He added in a whisper.

"Nay, he is still alive." Haldir's voice faltered, his body still worn from the work that he had to do the day before. "He has been taken captive and sold as a slave."

The crowd gasped, their prince a slave? A fluster of questions aroused after that statement. Many Elves were talking at once, each asking a question about Legolas.

Haldir mounted Ascarlún again. "Calm, we will find Legolas." He said, patting Ascarlún's neck.

"But what if you don't? Legolas was Thranduil's only son. And if Thranduil falls, then who will rule Mirkwood?" Menelvagor asked, concerned for the fate of Mirkwood.

"We hopefully won't have to think of that." Haldir pushed Ascarlún foreword, away from all the questions. "There are enslavers about and they have already taken Lorien! Mirkwood could be next! I'd advise all of you to take this warning seriously!" Haldir shouted as Ascarlún flew into the sky.

"I hope that we have enough supplies." Haldir remembered the pack hanging over his shoulder. "We need to warn Rivendell of the enslavers also. Hopefully, it hasn't been taken yet either."

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **please, people, review! It really brightens my day to hear from you. Suggestions welcome! Especially what the Elves should do for tasks. Also, do you people like Tirnen? Just curious… laughs menacingly… I mean… oh nothing;)

**Responds to reviews-**

**JediGollum- **Yes, cheese is quite good nods

**Horsiegurl- **I know; he is quite mean, but he's gone now! BUT _now_ you have the armory shop owner to worry about;)

**Iccle fairy- **Hehe, the leggings part was fun to write. And I promise, Faramir will appear in the next chappy!

**Mrs. Bloom- **Thanks so much for all the compliments!

**Elanna- **hehe, that's what was going to happen:)


	10. Is Today the Day I Die?

**Disclaimer- **The last time I checked, I didn't own LotR… And I highly doubt that it's changed by then…

**A/N- **All right… this is a long chappy! I think that it's the longest that I've ever written:) I also put more detail and description in the story, Could you tell me if it's better?

**A/N#2- **Elf torture is in this chapter! It's at the end, so I'm just warning you now…

**Chapter 10- **Is Today the Day I Die?

Ascarlún flew until his strong wings were sore. "Ascarlún, land here before you fall from the sky." Haldir tightened his grip on Ascarlún's feathery wings, preparing himself for a very uneasy landing. Ascarlún's back legs touched the green grass first, followed by his forelegs. Once safely on the hard ground, Ascarlún collapsed, not having the strength to even stand erect anymore. "We'll not travel anymore until you recover your strength." Haldir dismounted with some difficulty and lay lazily down on the soft, green grass in the midday sun. He sighed; completely content that no one would find them. He rolled on his side and lay his head on Ascarlún's soft, velvety fur. He slowly slipped into sleep, comforted by Ascarlún's presence. Ascarlún lay his head down next to the Elf's and also fell into deep sleep.

There the two lay, completely content and fast asleep. But their peaceful slumber was about to become a horrid, pain filled nightmare once again. Bounty hunters patrolling the area stumbled upon the two sleeping forms. "Halt, men." The leader whispered harshly, "There's an Elf over there and it's got a nice steed." The leader silently advanced towards Haldir. "Stay back, men. I don't want to wake it." He stealthily advanced again without his company behind him.

Now standing some feet from Haldir's peaceful form, the man jumped on him, forcefully pinning him to the ground.

Ascarlún awoke and was about to attack, but before he could even inflict any damage on the man, ropes and chains were swung around his strong neck, forcefully pulling him back.

The leader of the group forced Haldir to his feet with some effort. "Now, where did this one come from?" The man pulled Haldir's leggings down and looked upon the now scarring brand. "Nadhor's stables, huh?" He pulled Haldir's gray leggings back up. "Well, you're going right back there again." He pulled the Elf's hands behind his back and bound them together with sturdy cord. "Take the steed along too. It looks like it came from the same place."

He began to lead the long way back to Nadhor's place, but Ascarlún fought back against the men. He thrashed madly, until the men lost their grip on the restraints.

Ascarlún ran towards Haldir, but Haldir hurriedly spoke, "No, Ascar, leave. I don't want you to get caught again." Ascarlún whined sadly before running past the Marchwarden. He took to the skies, not knowing where to go next. Distraught by the situation, he left Haldir and flew in the direction of Mirkwood, his home.

"Great, now the steed's gone." The leader groaned heavily, but then turning to Haldir, he coldly said, "But I will still get paid for returning you." He looked at Haldir's sorrow-filled expression and grinned, happy that the Elf was distraught and broken. Turning to his small company of bounty hunters, he addressed them, "Come, we will make it there by nightfall.

Roughly handling his new captive, the bounty hunters were able to get him back to Nadhor, the stable owner.

"We caught it running free and decided to bring it back to its rightful place." The leader shoved Haldir next to his master. "Now, since I did bring it back to you…" He greedily held out his right hand.

Haldir's master ungratefully shoved a coin in the man's hand. "Here's your pay." He harshly said, not wanting to give up even one of his many coins that he'd hoarded over the years.

The bounty hunter cursed under his breath before leaving Nadhor and his slave.

"Slave, what became of my steed?" Nadhor had just then noticed that Ascarlún wasn't present.

"He escaped, master." Haldir choked on the last word.

"Escaped? Well, I guess that you now have twice the work to do." Nadhor took Haldir to the same tree that he was branded on. "But first, we need to make sure that you will never escape again." He forced Haldir against the rough tree and bound him to it with worn cord, much like before. But this time he didn't fetch the branding iron, rather he unsheathed his knife and fingered it. "Repeat: 'I will never escape here again, lest I want to die by hanging.'"

Haldir choked back the tears that threatened to drop. "I will never escape here again," He took a shaky breath; "lest I want to die by hanging…" Haldir spoke in such a way, that the last part was barely audible.

"Good." The man pulled Haldir's leggings down to his knees once again. He cut into Haldir's flesh, retracing the scarring brand with his knife. He savored the pain that he was inflicting upon the Marchwarden.

Upon finishing, he deeply engraved the 'N' in the middle of the brand. Then he withdrew his knife and wiped the shimmering blood on the back of Haldir's tunic. But before he sheathed the fine knife, he cut the cord that bound Haldir's wrists together. Afterwards, he sheathed the fine, silver knife and drew Haldir's leggings back up to their original place.

.oOo.

Estel lie awake in his cold, stone cell in Sarnik. He was to be beheaded later that day, but plans changed, and so he got an extra five days to suffer with his grave, bleeding wounds. He sighed heavily, knowing that these would be his few last days in Middle-Earth.

Things had been a lot quieter without Tirnen, but Estel missed that. Now things were too quiet and lonely. He missed the young Elf's smiling face and shining green eyes. Now that they had a Man for a guard, Estel's treatment was a lot worse. With Tirnen, Estel got food and water whenever he needed, but with the new guard, he only got it whenever it was brought to him, usually about only once a day, twice if he was lucky. Tirnen always slipped a blanket in-between the bars on a cold night to keep him warm, but now, he got nothing, not even a scrap of cloth. Whenever Estel's wounds pained him, Tirnen would always be there to give as much comfort as he could; it was usually talking with him that took his mind off the pain. But now Tirnen and Legolas were both gone. Gone forever. He would never see either of them again in his mortal life.

Estel sat up when he heard his cell door open, for he no longer had the grave wound in his arm that discouraged any movement, but instead it was now a white scar that ran from his shoulder to his hand. The new prisoner was an Elf, but not just any Elf, an Elf that Estel knew from before his imprisonment. "Arwen!" He cried, getting up and running to his beloved wife. "Arwen…" He took her into an embrace, "why are you here?"

"Estel, you know that I had to come and search for you when you were declared missing." She wept into Estel's stout shoulder, relieved that she was finally reunited with him.

"You shouldn't have come for me. You should've stayed in Gondor where it is safe." Estel embraced her tighter, hoping beyond hope that he would never have to leave her again.

"I couldn't just stay there… not with you gone…" She pressed her head against Estel's cheek.

The Man and Elf stood embracing each other for a long time, until Estel broke the embrace. "Arwen, I want you to know that whatever happens to me, I will always love and cherish you forever." He kissed her, hoping that he wouldn't have to reveal his fate to her just yet.

"Estel… I love you more than I love the stars themselves." Arwen whispered, lovingly, "There's nothing too grave that could separate our love, not even death."

Estel sighed, "Arwen, they're going to kill me in five days." He closed his eyes to fight back the tears.

"Then they will kill both of us." Arwen caressed Estel's face. "Because we are a whole, and if they take a half, then the other half will fall and shatter." She kissed his dry lips.

Estel took her back into an embrace and there they stood, confident that no one would break their love for one another.

.oOo.

Galion awoke to a soft tapping at his bedroom door. "Galion…" A melodic voice accompanied the tapping, "Galion, are you awake?" Galion sighed, not wanting to get out of the soft feather bed. He slowly got out of his comfortable position and walked up to the wooden door. Upon opening it, he saw Isabel's slender form standing with her hands behind her back. "Yes, Isabel?" Galion yawned, "Is there something that you need?"

"I wanted to give you this." She smiled softly, "And I couldn't just wait until morning to give it to you." She brought her hands out in front of her, revealing a small, engraved wooden box. "Here, Galion." She handed him the box with a slight smile. "I thought you'd might like this."

Galion took the box and opened it. A smile spread across his lips whilst he held the emerald elf-stone up. "A beryl… thank you." He enclosed the jewel back in its velvet-lined box. "But why did you give this to me? A beryl would sell for a great price in the open market…"

She shook her head slightly, "I know, but it looked Elvish, and I wanted to make you happy." She gave Galion a small kiss on his cheek before bidding him good night.

Galion smiled slightly before retiring back to his comfortable bed nestled his cozy room. He set the wooden box on the stone and swiftly fell asleep under the soft quilt.

Morning awoke the sleeping birds outside Galion's window. Their joyous singing awoke the sleeping Elf. Galion got out of bed and stretched, feeling quite refreshed and ready to start his day. He picked the box up once more and looked at the precious stone again. He sighed whilst he put the gem back in its fine container. Carefully, he set the wooden box back on the floor next to his bed and looked at it a last time before leaving his bedroom to meet Isabel.

Isabel was in the kitchen, eating a ripe, red apple. The sun's golden rays spilt in the kitchen, caressing her fair skin. When she noticed Galion walk into the room, she stood up from her silver chair. "Good morning, Galion." She greeted him; "Did you sleep well?" She got out a glass and filled it with clean water from a silver pitcher.

Galion nodded his thanks when the clean, clear water was handed to him. "Yes, thank you. The bed is very soft."

Isabel smiled and said, "After you eat, I'd like for you to bake a cake. Some friends of mine will be stopping over later on." She kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "Thank you."

Once she left, Galion sighed; _She's so beautiful…_ he thought, lost in a daydream. _Her curly, raven-black hair, divine figure, and her celestial blue eyes… _He sighed again, waking himself from the trance. _She's kind, caring, and lovely…_ Galion could feel himself falling in love for her.

.oOo.

Legolas and Tirnen finished eating, and Tirnen spoke to Legolas, "Legolas," He began, "How are we ever going to escape in our condition?"

Legolas shook his head. "I don't know…" He coughed violently, spitting blood on the ground afterwards.

"Would you like some water?" Tirnen held up a leather flask that was discarded on the floor. "It has an unpleasant taste, but other than that, it's clean."

Legolas took a draught and forced himself to swallow the unpleasant water. "Thanks, Tirnen."

Tirnen nodded and set the flask back down on the stone floor. "We'd better make sure that the man is gone." Tirnen rethought what he had just said, "Actually, stay here. I'll go and see if he's gone."

Legolas looked sadly upon his friend. "Good luck, and please don't get caught." He watched as Tirnen silently left the room.

Tirnen backed up against the wall and peered over a corner. _Good. No one's there._ He thought as he rounded the corner, keeping his back against the stone wall as he silently crept along.

He explored the house as silently and stealthily as he could, making sure that he didn't make even one false step. But just then, footfalls were heard. Adrenaline rushed through Tirnen's veins as he quickly ran away from the source of the sound.

Turning corner after corner, he thought that he lost the man, but he was wrong. He ran right into the owner of the house, his and Legolas' master.

The man seized Tirnen by his leather tunic and backhanded him across his face, leaving an ugly brown bruise contrasting greatly with his fair skin. "Trying to escape?" He raged, "Well, I have ways of dealing with the likes of you!" He dragged the panic-filled, writhering Elf down along the stone cold corridor.

Once inside a small room, the man locked Tirnen and himself inside. The room was, again, made of stone, and it had torches lighting it, much like all the other rooms. But this room was also a lot different than all of the others. This room has switches, whips, knives, daggers, and swords hanging up or propped against the wall. Most of them were of very fine quality, Tirnen guessed that the man had forged them himself. The room also had dried blood splattered upon its walls, some of it was still drying, indicating that someone else was in here not too long ago.

"This, if you couldn't tell, is the torture room. This is where I take my slaves if they misbehave." The man pulled Tirnen to some blood stained shackles hanging from the wall. He forcefully pushed the Elf's chest against the wall and took the shackles and cuffed them on Tirnen's wrists high above his head. Tirnen started to shake with fear; now wishing that he was never even put in Middle-Earth.

The man chose one of his finest silver swords and a long switch. Walking back to Tirnen, he unsheathed the sword and grinned. "'Tis a shame to lose such a fine slave." Tirnen shut his eyes, preparing himself for the worst.

The man was going to enjoy this. He always enjoyed inflicting pain unto others. First, he tore Tirnen's brown leather tunic off by cutting it with his sword. Then, when Tirnen's golden brown shirt showed, he decided to use the switch first to tear at the shirt and break the Elf's skin.

Quickly, he snapped the switch upon Tirnen's back repeatedly. The man had obviously used the switch many times to discipline his slaves, for he now did it with great skill so that the most pain was inflicted. Tirnen's fair skin blackened and bruised with every hit. His shirt was torn and tattered by the time the man put the switch back against the wall. Tirnen still faced the wall, trembling, and the back of his shirt was now stained with crimson red blood.

The man returned back to Tirnen with a whip in his hand. He thought that the sword wasn't going to do a well enough job, so he put it back in its original place on the wall.

Tirnen took a long shaky breath whilst he looked back over his shoulder. The torch that lit Tirnen's side of the room shed enough golden-red light for Tirnen to see that the man carried a whip in his hand. But the whip wasn't like any other whips that he had ever seen before. The whip that he carried had many leather thongs, and at the end of each thong, there was either a piece of broken glass or a bit of barbed wire.

"You'll get the enjoyment of suffering more with this whip than any sword." The man grinned menacingly, "You see, this whip has many pieces of broken glass and bits of sharp barbed wire. And they'll take a chunk of skin, latch onto it, and pull it off. Very painful…" He laughed coldly. "Where as a sword would just make a clean cut across the flesh!"

Tirnen took another shaky breath to calm himself down as much as he could. He turned his head back to face the wall again and closed his eyes. Hoping that it would all end soon.

The man approached Tirnen's shaking body and raised the whip above his head. He lashed it against Tirnen's skin and pulled it back, causing Tirnen to cry a heart-clenching cry of pain when a large portion of his back was ripped off. Again, the man slashed the whip against Tirnen's bleeding back, ignoring the cries of pain that escaped the Elf's lips.

Another lash from the whip was the last one that Tirnen felt before falling unconscious from the pain. His body fell limp in the shackles and blood dripped profusely onto the stone floor below. The man took out a key and uncuffed the shackles from Tirnen's wrists, letting his body fall into the pool of blood on the ground below. The man kicked Tirnen hard in the ribs to make sure that he wasn't feigning. Tirnen's body didn't even recoil from the harsh kick.

Once sure that the Elf was unconscious, he dragged him out of the torture room and back into the room that Legolas still resided in. "See this, Elf? This is what happens to slaves who try and escape!" He dropped Tirnen's body on the floor and left, feeling quite pleased with himself.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **I love REALLY long reviews! They make me really happy:D

**Responds to Reviews-**

**Elanna- **Yes, he got free for awhile, but now he's back in slavery:(Galadriel sailed off to Valinor with Celeborn.

**Kestrel of Valinor- **hehe, yes little Galion is having a wonderful time with Isabel!

**Jedi Gollum- **Whoo! Long review! I love them:D Haha! Haldir's dirt! Oh… you made me feel bad for making him feel like dirt:(

**Horsiegurl- **Thank you!

**faeriekittie306 animelover- **Yes, Galion is getting some nice treatment!

**Troubles8806- **Thanks so much for the suggestion! And the long review! But anyway, the suggestion really helped me out, I figured that I was getting pretty lazy with the details:P So I took a bit more time and thought it out a little more. I also hope that this chappy has answered your questions:D


	11. Another Day in Hell

**Disclaimer- **I own nothing of LotR…

**A/N- IMPORTANT! READ! **I know that I've been drifting off the subject of Legolas' slavery… that's whom the story was meant to be about in the first place! So from now on Legolas and Tirnen's story will be the base once again. I may go back to the other characters every now and then, but it won't be very frequent (Except for Faramir's story whom you will see in the next chapter possibly). I'm sorry that I drifted off in the first place:(

**A/N #2- **Legolas will get hurt further on in the story, so just wait, k:)

**Chapter 11- **Another Day in Hell

Legolas grabbed the tanned leather flask from the ground and ran over to Tirnen's motionless body. He sat cross-legged by Tirnen's head and carefully cradled his upper body in his arms. Skillfully, Legolas placed two fingers on Tirnen's jugular vein. There, he found a pulse, a slight flicker of his heart, but a pulse none the less. He pulled off his own tunic and wrapped it warmly around Tirnen's cold, shivering body. He tilted the young Elf's head back and opened his mouth just far enough to dribble water over his parched lips. He set the flask back down on the stone ground and gently coaxed Tirnen to swallow the water by soothingly massaging his throat until he felt the water pass down. He continued to give water to Tirnen until he was sure that the Sindarin Elf had had enough water.

He set the flask down for the final time and moved over by Tirnen's side. He gently picked Tirnen's limp body up in his arms and moved him to a less cluttered and more open area. He sat down on the stone floor with Tirnen's unconscious body still in his arms. He cradled him close, hoping to get at least some warmth leached back into his cold body.

Legolas moved his arm out from underneath Tirnen's torn back, his arm was now covered with the young Elf's blood. He carefully stripped Tirnen of the remaining scrap of his shirt; and moving him so that he lay on his stomach, Legolas was able to easily clean the deep gashes with the tattered rag and water.

Upon finishing, Legolas left Tirnen's shredded golden-brown shirt lying on the ground. He gently turned him over onto his back, being extremely cautious of his wounds. He draped his own tunic back over Tirnen's chest to keep any more precious warmth from escaping. Then he held him close to his chest once again. "Please do not die on me, Tirnen…" Legolas ran his slender hand through Tirnen's long, dark hair. "You are the only friend that I have here…" He continued to watch over Tirnen's motionless body for the remainder of the day.

When the sun fell, Legolas was beginning to become very drowsy. He laid Tirnen's now conscious, but asleep, body on his side down on the cold floor. Following that, Legolas laid down behind him, lying his body along the contour of Tirnen's. He wrapped his long, slender arms around Tirnen's chest to keep the shivering form warm from the immense amount of blood loss that he sustained.

The night passed quietly with Tirnen drifting in and out of consciousness and with Legolas carefully watching over him.

When the sun finally rose, the new dawn brought hope to Legolas, for he awoke to find Tirnen saying his name distraughtly. "Yes, Tirnen, I am here." He laid his hand on Tirnen's shoulder.

"Legolas…" Tirnen moaned, but that was all he could say before their master slammed the door to their room open.

"Get up, slaves!" The man walked over to the Elves and kicked Tirnen in his abdomen, causing the young Elf to gasp for breath. "Time to work!" He harshly pulled Tirnen to his feet, but Tirnen slumped back down to the stone floor. "Up!" He pulled the Elf back up to his feet and forced him to stand erect. "I need to test out some of my armor against arrows." He forcefully put the sterling steel armor around Tirnen's slender body. Afterwards, he gave Legolas a thick brown leather jerkin.

Legolas sighed deeply and put the thick leather jerkin on, hoping that the arrow wouldn't pierce it.

"Now stay put." The man walked over to the other end of the room and picked up a long, wooden bow. He notched an arrow and aimed it at Legolas first. He pulled it back with all of his strength and released his grip on the bowstring.

The bow sung and Legolas' body suddenly lurched foreword. The green feathered arrow hit Legolas' left shoulder, pierced the leather, and dug itself deep into the Elf's flesh.

The man furrowed his brow at how easily the leather was pierced. But turning to Tirnen, he notched another green feathered arrow and shot it at Tirnen's chest. Luckily for the Elf, though, the steel didn't give and the arrow bounced back and lay before the Elf's feet on the stone floor.

Their master quickly retrieved his armor and bow, planning to rethink the thick leather jerkin's design.

Unable to stand on his own feet anymore, Tirnen collapsed on the cold stone ground, barely on the edge of consciousness.

Legolas gripped the arrow's shaft protruding from his shoulder and pulled hard, freeing it from his flesh. He took a shaky breath and threw the arrow as far as he could away from him. He turned to his almost unconscious friend and sat down next to him, taking the young Elf's upper body in his arms and holding onto him with concern.

A drop of the prince's crimson blood dripped freely from his wounded shoulder and splattered on Tirnen's nose. The young Elf wrinkled his nose and opened his green eyes to see Legolas watching attentively over him.

"Am I to die?" Tirnen's raspy voice asked with fear tingeing the edge of the question.

"No, Tirnen. You will not die yet. I would not allow it…" Legolas gave a sad smile to the young Elf cradled in his arms.

"Are you not going to tend to your wound?" Tirnen queried.

"I would, but alas, I cannot. You see, there are no more bandages that are not already soiled with blood." Legolas sighed, knowing that he would have to deal with an infection later on.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **The end is a bit different because I was feeling more creative that day… heh, it feels kinda out of place…;

**A/N #2- **Reviews are becoming less frequent… is there something in this story that you'd like changed? But thanks so much for all the lovely long reviews:D I appreciated them! And on a non-related note, does anyone reading this have a DeviantArt account?

**Responds to Reviews-**

**Jedi Gollum- **The whip actually came from the movie _The Passion of Christ_. We watched it in religion class. A seriously sad and gory story:(

**Kestrel of Valinor- **You'll just have to keep reading to see if Legolas will ever escape;)

**Saerwen- **Hello, Elanna! I like your new name:) hehe, are you mad;)

**faeriekittie306 animelover- **Don't worry, I've _only_ begun with torturing Legolas!


	12. Death is Just the Beginning

**Disclaimer-** LotR does not belong to me, nor will it ever.

**A/N- **Legolas is wounded in this chapter! And he'll get even more wounded later on, so just wait:)

**Chapter 12- **Death is Just the Beginning

Legolas wiped the sticky dripping crimson blood off his shoulder and onto the gray stone floor.

"Legolas…" Tirnen whispered, his voice dry and cracked, "I do not think that I will live out tonight…"

"Please, Tirnen, do not speak of such things." Legolas wiped the little drop of red blood off Tirnen's nose and also smeared it on the stone floor.

Tirnen weakly shook his head. "No, I barely even have enough strength to speak with you."

"Then do not talk; rest." Legolas looked down to his friend whilst fighting back the stinging tears that threatened to fall.

Tirnen got as comfortable as he could in Legolas' caring arms and silently fell into a light sleep.

"Sleep well, mellon-nin." Legolas repositioned his arm to better support Tirnen's dark head.

A few peaceful moments existed until Tirnen roughly awoke and began coughing violently. "W-water…" He sat up and put his hand over his mouth, trying to stifle the coughs as best as he could.

Legolas quickly snatched the tanned water flask and handed it to his friend.

Tirnen grasped the flask and took a draught of the water. After his coughs died down, Tirnen set the flask down and breathed heavily. "Hannon-le, Legolas."

Legolas nodded and helped the younger Elf lie back down in his lap. "Are you alright, now?" The blonde-haired Elf looked down with care upon his friend.

Tirnen nodded, being extremely weak now from the coughing and the extreme amount of blood-loss. He got comfortable again, and soon he was asleep once more.

Hours passed, and the two Elves stayed silently in the dark, foul room. Legolas checked Tirnen's pulse every so often to see how he fared in his condition.

But when Legolas checked Tirnen's pulse again at the end of the hour, the weak, fading beat of the young Elf's heart was gone. Legolas hoped that he just misplaced his fingers, so he put his acute Elven ear to Tirnen's chest. But still, no beat could be heard.

Legolas forcefully closed his eyes and let his head drop heavily to his chest. _He is gone…_ Legolas could feel the tears begin to sting his eyes. _Gone… forever… _Legolas could soon feel himself embracing Tirnen's dead body close to his chest, wishing hopelessly that the dead Elf would spring back to life. "Tirnen…" He cried, "Tirnen… why?" He broke down and sobbed uncontrollably over his dead friend.

The two Elves' master heard Legolas' cries and opened the door to their room. "Finally died, huh?" The man said without any remorse in his voice. "Well, you know where it goes." He pointed to the pile of rotting bodies in the corner. "I'll clean that up later."

Legolas embraced Tirnen's body harder, not planning to let the young Elf's body be disgraced further. "I will do no such thing."

The gruff man walked swiftly up to Legolas and knocked him onto his back with a harsh punch. He took Tirnen's body in his arms when Legolas' grip was loosened.

Without any sympathy in his actions, the man tossed the young Sindarin Elf on top of the pile of bodies. "Now, you. Don't even think of getting that stupid Elf back." He addressed Legolas whilst he spoke.

Legolas, lost in blind fury, was unable to control himself anymore. He leapt up and sprinted at the man, tackling him down to the cold gray ground. He gripped the man's throat and shook it furiously. "Die, damn you! Die!" He tightened his grip even further, causing the man to choke for breath. "Damn it! Die!" Legolas unleashed all of his pent up anger upon the man.

The man kneed Legolas in-between his legs with all of his remaining strength. Legolas quickly dropped the man's throat and fell to his knees, trying desperately not to be overcome by the pain.

The Elf's master breathed heavily, recovering his strength. He got up and pulled Legolas to his feet by his hair. Legolas gasped, the pain from the earlier attack still resided, and now pain in his head also accompanied the attack's. "You need to be taught a lesson." Legolas' owner growled, none to happy with his slave's behavior.

.oOo.

Ascarlún landed on the soft grass, nearly fainting from the heat that his muscles gave off. He was drowsy and delusional, so he did not see the trap set in front of him. He stepped right on it, tripping the pin that held the trap set. The trap snapped shut on Ascarlún's right front leg. He cried and jerked his foot away out of instinct, but that only made the metal teeth cut deeper into the Elvish nayona's flesh.

A wandering Ranger heard the cry and ran to help the creature.

But when he did see what made the noise minutes later, he froze, paralyzed with fear. He shook himself out of it and walked cautiously up to Ascarlún. "It's alright…" He held out his shaking right hand to calm the stressed creature. "I'm here to help you." He knelt down to the trap and opened it with difficulty.

Ascarlún quickly withdrew his foot from the sharp metal trap and lay down on the grass, nursing his wound.

"Here. Let me help you." The Ranger took out some salve and bandages. He smeared the icy white cream into the Elvish nayona's gash. Following that, he wrapped the bandages snugly around the wounded leg. "There, finished." The Ranger said with a little pride. "Does that feel better?" Ascarlún nuzzled the man's cheek as a sign of gratitude.

"Where is your Elf?" The Ranger didn't know much of Elvish nayonas, for the Elves kept them well hidden. But he did know a little of them.

Ascarlún dropped his head and growled softly.

The Ranger put his hand on Ascarlún's neck and compassionately stroked his neck. "I'm sorry…"

Ascarlún stood up on the three of his good legs and motioned to his back.

"You want to give me a ride?" The Ranger, unsure of what was to happen, slowly mounted Ascarlún's back. Ascarlún ran on the three of his non-wounded legs and spread his wings, soaring high into the sky.

.oOo.

Legolas was dragged into a stone room; the same horrid room that Tirnen was tortured in. "Up against that wall!" The man pushed Legolas into the blood covered stone wall and stripped the prince of his royally embroidered shirt. "This'll fetch a high price in the market… no use in ruining it…" After saying that, he shackled Legolas' hands high above his head.

Legolas' master walked to the back of the room, set the shirt down, and picked up a long switch. He then walked back to Legolas and quickly and skillfully hit the flexible wood against Legolas' bare back.

The prince stood trembling, now knowing what kind of pain that his dear friend suffered through. He could feel the blood on his back trickle over his skin and drop to the floor.

The man decided to do something different. He walked to the back of the room again and dropped the switch on the floor, but whilst he picked up a knife, he chortled softly to himself.

He walked over to the trembling form standing against the wall, blood dripping freely from its back. He took the knife and stuck it deep into the Elf's lower back, slicing the flesh as he dragged the knife up alongside the Elf's spine. Then he took the same knife and stuck it in the wound that he just inflicted. But instead of pulling it out, he left it there while he walked back to the end of the room once again.

Legolas screamed and thrashed madly in the shackles. The flesh on his wrists began to chafe, and blood began to dribble over the tops of the shackles, dripping freely to the stone ground.

The armory shop owner laughed at the Elf's feeble attempts to get the knife out. He loosened a large stone from the floor and threw it at Legolas' head.

Legolas' vision went black and he fell limp in the blood stained shackles.

The Elf's master walked over to the unconscious Elf and unlocked him, letting his body fall into the pool of crimson blood on the stone ground. His golden hair mingled with the crimson blood, and soon his golden hair was a bloody red color.

The man dragged Legolas out of the room, leaving a trail of red blood behind wherever he dragged his slave. He put him back into the room that Tirnen died in and left him there with some fresh bandages and water. "I can't have you die on me just yet… I don't have enough money to buy a new slave… but when I do, I'll personally kill you off myself…" He said, knowing that his slave couldn't hear him anyway. And with that, he left the Elf alone to fend for himself with the knife still protruding from his back.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **This is not the end of the Legolas torture… there's more later on…

**Responds to Reviews-**

**JediGollum- **Yes, but Legolas is hurt now…

**XxelfxX- **Thanks for the comment! And sadly, that's what happened to Legolas and Tirnen… poor Tirnen…

**Kestrel of Valinor- **Alright, if I get the time, I'll try and read your story:)

**Saerwen- **Yes, that's where the whip came from… horrid, isn't it? Well, there you go:D Legolas is now hurt badly!

**Ilaaris- **Thank you!

**faeriekittie306 animelover- **shrugs


	13. Another Day, Another Slave

**Disclaimer- **LotR or any of the characters do not belong to me…

**A/N- **Faramir's a Ranger in here. I know that he's a prince in the 4th age, but here, he's a Ranger.

**Chapter 13- **Another Day, Another Slave

A silent, motionless hour passed before Legolas was finally awaking from his unconscious state. He groaned heavily and looked over his shoulder at his lower back. The hilt of the knife was the only part visible sticking out of Legolas's torn bloodied flesh. He reached back and grasped the black hilt. He squeezed his eyes shut and began to pull the serrated knife free from his muscle. He took a long deep breath through clenched teeth whilst he pulled the knife free. He weakly threw the knife as far away as he could.

Painfully pulling himself up to a sitting position, he was able to grab the rag and dunk it in the cool, clean water. He reached back and began to gently scrub the drying blood and dirt off of his back.

Once finished with cleaning his wound, he put the rag back into the red soiled water and grabbed the clean white bandages lying right next to the bucket. He wrapped them tightly around his abdomen to stem the flow of blood as quickly as he could.

Then remembering his wounded shoulder, he fished back in the red water for the strip of cloth. He washed his left shoulder carefully, being extremely cautious not to break the flesh that was already beginning to heal. Following that, he took the remaining bandages and wrapped them snugly around the old wound.

He finished with dressing his wounds and his glance sadly drifted over to Tirnen's body. He sighed; Tirnen's body didn't give off the warm soft glow that was present when he was alive.

He slowly brought himself out of the painfully sorrowful memories of his dear late friend. His attention was soon drawn to his completely empty stomach. He looked over to the tray of food that was sitting to his right. _At least he still feeds me…_ The Elven prince thought; picking up a slice of freshly baked wheat bread. He slowly ate the bread, not hoping but feeling alone in the dark, helpless room. He finished eating the slice of bread and picked up a little bunch of green grapes. He picked one off the stem and ate it, savoring its sweet, ripe juice. He relished the remaining grapes, knowing that this would be his only meal for the entire day.

.oOo.

Haldir groaned; Nadhor, his master, had just given him a very harsh and unjustified beating for trying to snatch a little piece of food.

The Marchwarden was to work in the stables again that evening, but he didn't feel like cleaning up anymore. He didn't feel like doing anything anymore, actually. He just wanted to be free again. He wanted to go back to his telon and rest in his silver-boughed mallorn tree. He missed his cozy telon high above Lothlorien's forest floor.

"Get back to work, slave!" Haldir's master whipped Haldir across his back.

Haldir's thoughts ended there. He got back to the stables and cleaned them up some more. And no matter how much he detested cleaning them, he beared through it and cleaned them until they were spotless.

By the time Haldir was finished with the stables, the moon was already high in the sky. The Marchwarden walked out of the stables and into the little room that was assigned to him. He miserably crawled into the little bed and swiftly fell asleep.

The pale yellow sun rose, the little birds awoke, and the cricket's melodious songs had stopped. It was morning again, and Haldir awoke with a groan. "Another damned day in this damned place!" He groggily got out of bed and walked outside.

A large tree loomed over Haldir's head. The Marchwarden looked up and saw that it bore pears. He looked around to make sure that his master was still in his house. _Good! He is gone!_ Haldir jumped up trying to grasp a ripe pear, but his jump was just a little too short. Thinking quickly, he skillfully scaled the tree and sat on one of the tree's mighty boughs. He picked the ripest looking pear and ate it hungrily. He dropped the core on the grass and picked another three pears that were in his reach. He jumped down from the tree and ran back into his small room. There, he stored the three ripe pears under the wool blanket of his small bed. "That should help me survive this hellish place for a little longer…"

He quickly left his room again and met up with his master a few moments later at Nadhor's doorstep.

"Slave," Nadhor addressed Haldir, "I want you to meet the new slave that I just bought!" He shoved a thin, almost emaciated Elf in front of Haldir. "This new slave will help out around here also."

Haldir nodded, feeling pity for the new Elf almost immediately. The Elf that stood before Haldir was of Sindarin origin, and that was quite apparent to Haldir. The thin Elf had golden brown hair down to the middle of his back. His face came to an elegant point on his chin. And his eyes were silver blue that had sorrow etched into them.

"I have nothing for either of you to do now. But I will think of something later on." And so, Nadhor left Haldir and the new Elf.

"Hello." Haldir began, figuring that the new Elf wasn't going to speak first, "What is your name?"

"Slave…" The thin Elf replied quietly.

"No. That is not your name." Haldir felt even more pity for the Elf now. "My name is 'Haldir'." The Marchwarden held out his hand to greet the other Elf. "What were you called before you were caught?"

The Elf stood silent for a moment, thinking back to happier times. He finally spoke after a long silence, "Naurthúl. My name was Naurthúl."

"You look half-starved, Naurthúl." Haldir put his arm around the Elf's shoulder. "Would you like something to eat?"

Naurthúl perked up at the mention of food. "Yes! Please, if you have any!"

"Of course! I have just found a pear tree this morning, actually."

The older Elf smiled. "Thank you very much. It has been so long since I have actually eaten."

Haldir helped Naurthúl walk over to his newly discovered pear tree.

.oOo.

Ascarlún flew until the edge of the Mirkwood was just below him. He landed right in front of the dark forest and breathed heavily.

The Ranger dismounted and stroked Ascarlún's neck happily. "You seem to have a destination in mind. I would have wished that we could've gone to Sarnik, but seeing as how you have your heart set on your destination… I guess that I will accompany you." He opened the pack that Haldir had taken along with him and looked inside. He took out some cured meat and fed Ascarlún. Then he took out some dried fruit for himself and ate that. "There isn't much food in there." He counted their meager provisions and frowned. "Well, I hope that where you want to go is not that far away." He closed the leather bag again and sat down on the grass.

Ascarlún sat down next to him. His breathing was labored and strong.

"You seem to be quite tired. Would you like a drink? I have seen a stream not far from here." The Ranger pointed to the stream's direction.

Ascarlún stood up and limped over to the swiftly flowing stream. He dipped his mouth in the icy cold water and took a long drink from the clear stream. He finished drinking and limped back over to the Ranger. He nuzzled the Ranger, wanting to leave again.

"Leave again? So soon?" The Ranger got to his feet and mounted Ascarlún.

Ascarlún ran along the forest's edge and flew up, over the forest's thick canopy.

Within a few hours of fight, the Elvenking's palace could be seen. Ascarlún beat his wings as fast as could.

The Elvish nayona landed right in King Thranduil's courts of his palace. He growled, trying to get an Elf's attention.

Menelvagor turned around and saw Ascarlún. "Ascarlún! You have returned!" He was about to run up and hug the nayona, but then he remembered what Ascarlún was capable of doing. He shuddered at the thought of Ascarlún's bites. Then the Elf became very confused when a Ranger dismounted. "What? Ascarlún, what happened to Haldir?" Menelvagor turned to the Ranger. "What is your name, and what do you need?" He asked a most un-polite tone, "The Elves of Mirkwood do not deal kindly to strangers!"

"I am Faramir, a wandering Ranger." Said the Ranger, "And I come here because this nayona has brought me here."

Menelvagor bid a servant to fetch the king. The servant did so, and soon the king of Mirkwood was standing right in front of his favorite steed and Faramir. "So, I hear that you are Faramir, a Ranger." The king said, "And now you are here? In _my _forest?"

"I am sorry for trespassing, but this nayona has brought me here for reasons of his own."

"Where is Galion?" Thranduil asked, becoming very irate.

"No one knows, my king. Haldir of Lórien was here before also, but he did not tell us anything about Galion." Menelvagor said.

"If Galion was riding Ascarlún, and Haldir was riding him also… and they both went missing… Ascarlún, have you been _eating_ Elves!" Thranduil asked, shocked.

Ascarlún snorted.

"Ascarlún, I am afraid that I will have to confine you until Galion and Haldir are both found." Said Thranduil, none too happy with Ascarlún's behavior.

"But then how will I ever get to Sarnik without Ascarlún?" Faramir spoke up.

"I do not care. Ascarlún is not even your steed to begin with!" The king was becoming agitated. "Now, dismount and talk to my face."

Faramir reluctantly dismounted from Ascarlún's back and walked up to the king.

"Now, what is it that you need in Sarnik?" Thranduil asked.

"The king of Gondor is being held there and I must save him!" Faramir panicked, fearing that he was too late to even save Aragorn any more.

"Aragorn is being held captive?" Thranduil stood shocked at the news that the Ranger brought.

"Yes! And I must help him!"

"Nay. You will not go alone. Mirkwood's finest soldiers will accompany you. As will I." Thranduil summoned for the best of the soldiers to be brought out into the courtyard.

Soon all of Mirkwood's finest and best soldiers were standing with their weapons in the large courtyard.

"Come, we must depart quickly!" Thranduil mounted his dazzling white horse and called behind him, "Confine Ascarlún and keep him tethered whilst I am gone." And with that, he left with Mirkwood's army and Faramir.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **This is another picture of Tirnen in remembrance of him (lol, it's a lot better than the last one;)): http/ w w w .deviantart. c o m /view/16755440/

**Responds to Reviews-**

**Saerwen- **I'm sorry… I was crying when I wrote that chapter:( And that Ranger isn't Aragorn;) hehe, you'll find out what's happened to Aragorn later on.

**JediGollum- **Oh:'( Tirnen's dead…

**The Underworld- **Guilty? How does that make you feel guilty?

**Kestrel of Valinor- **Tirnen: Oh, I see how it is! I die, and you have no sympathy for me what-so-ever!

Bberry: Uh… sorry about that… Tirnen's a bit angry tonight…;

**Oblifiac- **You are _relying _on this story? Hehe… I have power now:D

**Elf771- **Hehe, I know I'm evil!;)

**XxelfxX- **'Hurry up with it'! Sheesh… _someone's _a bit demanding;)

**Troubles8806- **hehe, I thought that Faramir would be a nice character to put into the story.:D

**Kirsten- **'Hurry up and update'! … you reviewers are getting so impatient:)

**Mr. Leader- **… I don't know if I should take this as a threat or a complimentO.o…


	14. Trying is Only Half the Battle

**Disclaimer- **LotR doesn't belong to me.

**A/N- **There is a little surprise near the end of this chappy:)

**Chapter 14- **Trying is Only Half the Battle

The prince of Mirkwood finished eating his meager meal before the door to the small, dark room was slammed open.

"Slave, come here!" Legolas's master shouted.

Legolas sighed heavily before getting up and trudging over to his master. "Yes… master?"

The tall man unsheathed a short, newly whetted blade. "I need to test how well this blade cuts flesh." The man sneered.

Legolas fell to his knees, frustrated with all of the pain that he had suffered through already. "No." He stated simply.

"'No.'?" Legolas's master asked angrily. "'No' is not the kind of response that I want to hear!" The man backhanded Legolas across his fair cheek. "I want 'yes, master' and 'whatever you say, master'! But I don't want 'no' for an answer! Do you understand, slave?"

"No, I do not understand." Legolas kept his eyes on the man's.

"What?" The tall man pulled Legolas to his feet forcefully. "What did you just say?"

"'No, I do not understand.'" Legolas said again.

Legolas's master took the blade that he had in his hand and swiped it swiftly across the Elf's throat. A line of red blood soon appeared where the blade was swiped. "Let that be a warning. Next time I will slash your throat so deep that you will die instantly." After giving his warning, the man slashed Legolas's bare chest to test the sword's sharpness. "This is fairly sharp. I will keep it as is." And after that, the man left once more.

The Elf wiped off the blood trickling down his neck. "I wish that cut had been deep enough to kill me… then I would be out of this hellish nightmare!" But then he remembered the serrated knife that he had pulled from his back not too long ago. He walked over to it and picked it up in his slender hand. He placed it on the side of his throat and pressed the blade against his skin. "I will join you soon, Tirnen…"

.oOo.

Naurthúl and Haldir had both eaten their pieces of fruit and they were now relaxing in the tree, enjoying the night's soft cool breeze.

Naurthúl yawned. "Do you want to go to sleep, Haldir?"

The Marchwarden nodded his agreement before slipping down from the tree bough that he was resting on.

"Where are you going?" The elder Elf asked.

"To my bed. Are you not coming?"

"You get a bed?"

"Yes. And you did not get one before?" Haldir asked, a bit shocked.

"No. My other master was very cruel. He would beat me every night… most of the time it was because he just felt like hurting me… and… and…" Naurthúl held back the stinging tears and whispered very quietly, "… and he raped me…" After that, the golden brown-haired Elf fell to his knees and cried. "I-it was h-h-horrid there!"

The Marchwarden came over to the sobbing Elf and knelt down next to him. He placed his hand on Naurthúl's back and rubbed it soothingly. "Hush… it is all over now… it is only a memory…"

Naurthúl took a shaky breath before he stood up. He nodded and let Haldir lead him to the Marchwarden's small room.

Upon arriving in the tiny room, Naurthúl looked at the small bed. "Haldir, how do you sleep on that at night? It looks so small!"

"Well, it is not easy to sleep on it, but I find it better than the ground." Haldir walked over to the bed. "You may sleep here tonight. I will sleep outside. Hopefully Ascarlún will have a better chance of seeing me there."

"Ascarlún?" Naurthúl asked, confused.

"An Elvish nayona. He is going to help me escape."

"Oh…" Naurthúl sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to go with Haldir. "But then I will not be able to accompany you…"

"That is right… an Elvish nayona will only allow one Elf to ride it." Haldir looked down to the wooded floor in thought. "Maybe Ascarlún will allow both you and me to ride him."

Naurthúl smiled. "I hope that he does."

"I hope so, too." Haldir said before leaving out the door to sleep outside.

.oOo.

Thranduil, the Mirkwood army, and Faramir arrived in Sarnik a day after they departed from the dark forest.

"Where is my son?" Thranduil spoke with authority.

"Your s-son, King Thranduil?" Seld, the gatekeeper, asked frightened of the king's powerful stature.

"Yes, my son! Legolas! Where is he?"

"I do n-not know w-w-who y-you are speaking o-of." Seld trembled with fear.

"You are of no use!" Thranduil, in his rage, quickly unsheathed his sword and sliced the man's head off his shoulders.

A young citizen of the poor city came up to the king and timidly tugged on his robes. "Sir?"

Thranduil looked down upon the twelve-year-old and harshly asked, "What do you need?"

"I-I know w-w-where y-your son is…" The little girl said timidly.

"Where is he?" Thranduil asked, with a bit less rage in his voice.

"H-he is a s-slave n-now." The little girl whispered, afraid of what the king's reaction would be.

"SLAVE? Legolas a _SLAVE_?" Thranduil's rage returned to him as he urged his horse foreword and as he slit some of the citizen's throats when the white horse ran by them all. "You damn humans make me sick! Each and every damn one of you!" He checked his horse and spoke again, "Where is he now?"

"He was sold to an armory shop." The man who had auctioned off Legolas spoke in a clear tone.

"Then you must speak of Than. The only armory shop around here." Thranduil sheathed his golden sword back into its scabbard.

The auctioneer nodded.

Thranduil dismissed his army and Faramir to go and rescue Estel, for he wanted the pleasure of killing the man who had Legolas personally.

.oOo.

"Please, Legolas, do not try and kill yourself." A soft voice called to the prince.

Legolas put the knife down and looked up upon the fair figure that stood before him. "… I-it cannot be…" He fell back in shock. "T-Tirnen!"

The figure smiled and nodded slightly. "Yes, Legolas. Mandos allowed me to return back to Middle-Earth."

"I still cannot believe it!" Legolas sprang to his feet and embraced his once dead friend.

"I am going to help you escape." Tirnen whispered into the older Elf's ear.

A smile spread across Legolas's lips. For the first time since his capture, Legolas was happy. "How?" He asked simply.

"Follow me." Tirnen began to lead Legolas to the door, but the prince fell down in pain.

"Wait, Tirnen. I cannot walk. I am too weak from the beating that I have suffered through."

The young Elf carefully scooped up Legolas and carried him out the door of their dark hellish room.

After many twists and turns of the shop's halls, Legolas was finally able to breathe the clean, fresh air of his freedom. "How did you get here, Tirnen?"

"After I was reborn in Valinor, I took a ship to Middle-Earth. Then I got the fastest Elvish nayona and she bore me here.

"You did all of that very quickly…" Legolas said, amazed.

"The grace of the Valar helped me along." Tirnen said, walking over to the nayona, who stood proudly on the soft grass. "I do not know if Ris will allow both of us to ride her." Tirnen carefully placed Legolas upon the nayona's back. "Can you stay on?"

Legolas nodded weakly. "Yes."

"Are you sure? You do not seem very strong currently…" Tirnen asked, concerned for his friend.

"Yes. I can stay on." Legolas held onto the leather harness.

"Alright." Tirnen said, mounting Ris right behind Legolas.

But before Tirnen could find out if Ris would accept both him and Legolas, the Elves' former owner ran outside.

"Damn it! Why doesn't he just leave us alone?" Tirnen swore under his breath. "Run, Ris!" Tirnen kicked Ris lightly, but Ris didn't move. "Ris, please run!" Tirnen kicked her again, but she didn't budge. So he turned to Legolas and whispered, "Please make it back to Mirkwood alive." And with that, Tirnen dismounted.

The dark-haired Elf was about to send Ris off with Legolas, but his former master came up from behind and gagged him. The man pushed Tirnen to the ground and bound his wrists. Then he turned to Legolas and Ris.

Legolas couldn't just leave his friend to die again. He got one of his feet out of the stirrups, but he wasn't able to dismount fully. The man forcefully grabbed Legolas and also threw him to the ground. He kept his foot on the prince's back to keep him pinned down whilst he got a rope around Ris's neck.

"You Elves are all so foolish!" The man said, binding Legolas's wrists together. "If one of you is captured, then another one will come and try and save the first one." The man sneered evilly. "And this winged horse of yours will look nice hanging from my wall." He laughed at the end of his sentence.

_This just is not my day…_ Tirnen thought, sadly.

The man took his two recaptured Elves and his newly acquired steed inside.

Once they were all inside, the man unbound Tirnen and Legolas's wrists and left them both with Ris in that same room that the Elves had just escaped from.

Tirnen took out his gag and swore harshly about the man.

Legolas took out his gag also, but he kept quiet.

Tirnen stood up and walked over to Ris. "I am sorry that you are now mixed up in this too, Ris…" Tirnen embraced the Elvish nayona's neck lovingly. "When the time comes… I will make sure that your death is painless… unlike my own was…" Ris nuzzled Tirnen's neck in response. Tirnen smiled slightly.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **

**Responds to Reviews- **Yay! Reviews are nice!

**Saerwen- **Well… yeah… I really don't know how to respond to that review…

**JediGollum- **Well, Cield did not adopt Tirnen in this story. And I know that 'talan' was spelled wrong… I was too lazy to go look up the word;P Hehe! Thranduil has an attitude! And the nayonas are being confined:D

**Mr. Leader- **Ok! I await my death:)

**Fk306 animelover- **hehe! I'm not going to tell you that;)

**XxelfxX- **Don't be sorry. I was kidding:D

**Kirsten- **hehe! I was only kidding! I don't mind:D

**Legolas-gurl88- **Thanks for the advice:D

**Troubles8806- **I am not going to respond to that;)

**Avalonmage- **Cry? _Again_! … I made you cry?…


	15. Forgotten Tirnen

**Disclaimer- **I do not… -sighs- just look at chapter one… I am tired of typing this over and over again…

**A/N- **Short chapter… it's mainly about Legolas and Tirnen.

**Chapter 15**- Forgotten Tirnen

A horrible day passed, and all of the Elves were still enslaved, but thanks to Mirkwood's army (and Faramir), Estel and Arwen were both rescued and they are now in Gondor. Aragorn is working hard to get slavery abolished in Middle-Earth, but sadly, he has had little progress in reaching his goal.

.oOo.

"Here." Tirnen and Legolas's master harshly shoved a tray of food in front of them. Then he left just as quickly as he had come in.

Tirnen picked up a portion of meat and gave it to Ris. "I cannot allow you to starve to death…" He stroked Ris's muzzle before sitting down next to Legolas.

Tirnen ate solemnly and alone, for Legolas was knocked unconscious by the man.

But just before he finished his portion of their meager amount, the wooden door to their room slammed open again, and their master came rushing in. He took Tirnen and Ris and hurriedly pulled them into a spare room. A room that Tirnen hadn't been in before. There, the man put a shackle on both Tirnen and Ris's necks. Then he locked the shackle's locks and pocketed the golden key. After doing that very hastily, he quickly ran out of the room and locked that door, also.

Running back to the Elven prince, he quickly grabbed him and was about to pull him out of the room, but King Thranduil blocked his only exit.

"I see that you have my son in your grasp." The king said, very irate.

"T-t-this I-I-is y-y-your s-s-son?" The man shook nervously.

"Yes. Now let him go." Thranduil warned.

The man hastily dropped Legolas's arm and fell to his knees before the king. "P-p-please, d-do n-n-not k-kill m-m-me." He pleaded for his pitiful life.

"I will not kill you." The king said.

The man looked up at the king with hope.

"Not now, at least." Thranduil said angrily, "I want you to be tortured before you are actually given death."

The man's hopeful gaze soon fell back down to the floor; now filled with sorrow and regret.

The king then turned to his son who was still badly wounded and unconscious. "Ion-nin." Thranduil carefully picked Legolas up in his arms and held him lovingly.

Thranduil turned back to the man and said flatly, "I want you to come with me." He walked out of the shop with Legolas in his arms and the man following sadly behind.

When they were outside, Thranduil carefully placed Legolas on the back of his horse. Then he got some rope from the pack that his horse was carrying. He made a noose at the end of the length of rope and threw it over the man's head. "You will run after my horse, and if you fall, you will be dragged."

Once finished with the man, he mounted right behind his son.

He urged the shimmering white mare into a run at full gallop. The man was too slow and he tripped over a rock, causing him to fall into the dirt and to be dragged.

The king and the prince reached Mirkwood with the man's dead body still trailing in the mare's hoof-prints. Thranduil dismounted and cut the rope that tethered the man to the horse. He dragged the limp body by the rope into a clearing for the wild animals of Mirkwood to eat. He walked back to the mare once more and smiled; Legolas was beginning to wake from his unconscious state. The king mounted right behind his son again and had the mare run to the palace.

.oOo.

Tirnen was not faring as well as Legolas. The armory shop owner apparently had a son, whom followed in his father's footsteps. He was the age of fifteen, but he was very strong for a boy his age. He came in and Tirnen asked for the boy to free him. But instead of the boy freeing him, he stabbed Tirnen in his abdomen. Not once, but twice that wretched silver blade pierced Tirnen's strong abdomen.

The teenager sneered at Tirnen's pain-filled state. And just before he left, he kicked Tirnen in-between his legs.

Tirnen was now on the ground, doubled-over in pain. Ris lay down next to him and curled her body around Tirnen's.

The two spent the night in the wretched, hellish place. Tirnen slept soundlessly with Ris carefully keeping guard over him.

_Tbc…_

**Responds to Reviews-**

**Saerwen- **Well, wouldn't you act the same way as Thranduil if you had a son and he was captured and tortured?

**Mr. Leader- **Uh… I have no comment…

**XxelfxX- **Thanks:)

**JediGollum- **But you _are_ crazy:D

**Fk306 animelover- **He just did:)

**Silviasilverelf- **-nod- Yes… so close… yet so far…

**Troubles8806- **No, you didn't mix anything up. Sorry if that chapter was a bit confusing.

**Opalkitty- **Well, Thranduil got Legolas… but poor Tirnen and Ris are still stuck in that awful place:(


	16. Lost Forever

**Disclaimer- **Refer to chapter 1.

**A/N- **I you want to read a story dedicated just to Tirnen as an Elfling, then you can go here: http/ www .deviantart. com/deviation/17668702/ He's such a little cutie:D but I must warn you… the story is kind of sad:( And on another note, **Elvish nayonas** are now being changed to **ayrbi**. For I have other creatures just called 'nayonas' And they do not have wings… and it is just to strange to type 'Elvish nayona'… it also sounds kind of generic:P Hope that this change does not confuse you too much…

**Chapter 16- **Lost Forever

"Wake up!" Tirnen's new master kicked the Elf in his abdomen; Tirnen groaned in pain, for the wounds that were there still pained him greatly. "Up!" The boy ordered again, issuing an even harder kick to the wounded Elf.

With difficulty, Tirnen got up to his feet and looked at the boy angrily. "What do you want?"

The boy backhanded Tirnen's fair cheek harshly. "That is no tone to use when talking to your master." Tirnen said nothing in response. "And I just wanted to tell you that I'm taking your ayrbi."

"You cannot take Ris!"

"But I already have. I'm going to breed her with my ayrbi, Phieo. She should bear some very strong offspring."

"How did you get an ayrbi? Humans do not get them readily."

"The open market carries the most unusual things…"

Tirnen stood silent for a moment before speaking again,  
"And I suppose that you have trained him to be a cold-blooded killer, correct?"

The boy smiled and nodded a little with pride. "Yes." He answered simply. "But don't worry. I'll bring your ayrbi back in here once Phieo is finished with her." He chuckled coldly to himself and left Tirnen alone.

.oOo.

"Oh, ion, you are awake!" Thranduil embraced his son gently.

"Ada?" Legolas asked, still a bit dazed.

"Yes, ion-nin, I am here."

"Ada, it was so horrid!" Legolas cried into his adar's strapping shoulder.

"Hush, ion… it is all over now…" Thranduil rubbed his son's back soothingly.

"But where is Tirnen?" Legolas asked, just realizing now that his friend was not present.

"Tirnen? Who is he?" Thranduil asked confused.

"My friend, adar!" Where is he?"

"I do not know, Legolas. I know not of this Tirnen of whom you speak."

"We have to help him!" Legolas became worried.

"I will go and look for him. Stay here; I do not want you hurt anymore."

Legolas sadly looked down and nodded slightly. "Please, ada, find Tirnen."

"I will, Legolas. I will." Said Thranduil before he left to go back to the place where he rescued Legolas from.

.oOo.

The door to the room where Tirnen was being kept in was opened. In walked the grey ayrbi, Ris.

"Ris!" Tirnen smiled, happy to see her faring well.

Ris just looked at him, her azure eyes filled with pain and sorrow. She walked over to a dark corner and there she lay in its comforting darkness.

The boy hurried in soon after her. "Come here, slave." He ordered.

Tirnen sighed heavily and tried to walk over to his master, but the chain that tethered him to the wall wasn't long enough for Tirnen to reach him.

His master groaned and unchained Tirnen hastily. "Bring her with you." He pointed to Ris's grey form shadowed by the corner's darkness.

The young Elf walked over to Ris and placed his hand on her neck. He stroked the velvety soft fur gently whilst he tried to coax her out. "Come, Ris…" He stroked her nose. "You need to come with me…" Ris looked up at him sadly and whined.

"Hurry it up!" The boy ordered hastily.

"Come, Ris…" Tirnen helped Ris get to her feet. He gently led her back over to the boy.

Tirnen's master grabbed the Elf and hurriedly pulled him out of the room. Ris followed along behind the young Elf. "That damn king is going to find us here once his son wakes up!" He pulled Tirnen along the twisting corridors until the three of them were outside in the clean, crisp air. "I know of another place where I can keep you without fear of that king."

He grabbed Phieo and mounted the pitch-black male ayrbi. "Don't try to escape, slave. If you do try, I will hunt you down and beat you!"

"Yes, master." Came Tirnen's quite reply. He mounted Ris and awaited his mater's next command.

The boy kicked Phieo hard to get him to fly off. The black ayrbi growled at the boy before he ran off and spread his silvery wings, soaring high into the blue sky.

Tirnen sighed heavily and spoke softly to Ris, "Let us go Ris…" Ris exhaled noisily, Tirnen taking it as a sort of a sigh. "Come, Ris. Before we both get into trouble." Against her wish, Ris ran after Phieo and took to the skies, trailing after him.

,oOo,

Many months passed. Tirnen had grown weak from the meager of amount of food that he was given every day. But Ris was just the opposite; she had grown stronger from all of the fresh meat that she was given daily, for the boy did not want her offspring to be born weak and undernourished.

Of the many months that passed in Mirkwood, Thranduil sent out parties of Elves to search for Tirnen. They combed the land, but none of them reported back with news of Tirnen's whereabouts.

Tirnen walked up to the pregnant ayrbi and gently patted her bulging belly. "You will make a wonderful naneth, Ris." Ris stood up and licked Tirnen's cheek, causing the Elf to laugh a little. "At least you and your unborn baby are getting treated well." He stroked Ris's velvety grey fur. "I just cannot imagine what that boy will do with your baby, though… I mean if he trained Phieo to be that aggressive…" Tirnen looked down sadly.

_Tbc…_

**A/N- **Well… it seems that has another rule… And I'm sorry, but I cannot respond to anymore reviews…:( But I will say that Tirnen looks like he is 23 compared to a human;)


	17. Searching

**Disclaimer- **Refer to chapter 1.

**A/N- **Wow… it's been awhile… but this is the last chapter of this story… it's been fun everyone! Bye bye….

**Chapter 17- **Searching

More horrible months passed with Tirnen and Ris were still stuck in slavery. "How are you faring, Ris?" Tirnen knelt down and patted her neck. "Is it almost time for you to give birth?" The Elf sat down cross-legged next to the grey ayrbi. "I think that ten months have passed here. But then again, I am not sure… time has seemed to stop ever since we have been captured…"

With effort, Ris got to her feet; a feeling of discomfort lingered inside of her. She started to pace around the room. Tirnen could tell that it was almost time.

"Well, Ris… I do not think that the boy will give you anything to ease you… so I will do my best with helping you." Tirnen had some experience being a healer, but he had never delivered a child before. He waited for Ris to lie back down again.

Finally after what seemed like an hour of waiting, Ris lay back down on the stone floor. Her breathing had quickened as she went into labor. Tirnen rushed over to her and knelt down by her tail, "Come on, Ris… you can do this… just push…"

The ayrbi gave a distressed cry before a small, wet head was visible. Tirnen gently grabbed the head and said reassuringly, "Keep pushing, Ris... you are doing fine."

After a while, Tirnen held a baby ayrbi in his arms. He set it right next to Ris's head as the mother ayrbi began to exhaustedly clean her baby off.

Just at that moment, the boy came in with his ayrbi, Phieo. "I heard that that ayrbi gave birth…" He pulled Phieo over to Ris. "That means that she can conceive once again."

Tirnen stood up and forced himself between the boy and Ris. "No. Let her rest first, at least!"

"out of my way, slave!" The boy pushed Tirnen out of the way and walked up to Ris. The mother ayrbi was protecting her newly born baby from him. "give me that baby!" He demanded. Ris pinned her ears back and bore her teeth. "Do not worry, you will get another one in ten months." He snatched the baby ayrbi up, but his hand was not able to get very far away from the mother since Ris lashed out and sunk her teeth deep into the boy's arm. The boy recoiled his limb, causing the baby to fall to the stone ground with a thump.

Ris quickly got up and gently picked up the baby with her mouth. She walked over to Tirnen and stood near him.

The young Elf saw an advantage to the situation and took it. He took Ris's baby into his arms and mounted Phieo hastily. He gave the black ayrbi a light kick to get him to run.

Once outside, Tirnen got Phieo to fly off into the blue sky with Ris following closely behind. The young Elf sighed happily, he was finally free.

.oOo.

Legolas could not stand it anymore. He was going to go out and find Tirnen… even if it killed him. His body was healed and he was ready to leave. He was going to sneak out of the palace without his adar's consent.

Silently, Legolas left to the stables and got his favorite horse, Ber. Ber was as black as night and his spirit as fierce as a wild fire. When Legolas mounted him, he bolted off in a heartbeat, out of the stables and into Mirwood's dense forest.

Legolas searched all day, but to no avail. There was just no trace of his lost friend. He called for Ber to halt and the black stallion did just that. Legolas dismounted and stroked the stallion's nose. "Rest for now, Ber…" Ber tossed his mane before he nuzzled Legolas's neck.

The Elf smiled and collected some wood. He built a small fire and lie down next to it. "Good night, Ber." And with that, he fell asleep.

The next morning brought much hope. Legolas awoke to Ber nudging his face. The Elvenprince awoke and saw his long-lost friend standing right beside him. He rubbed his eyes, believing that he was only dreaming. "Tirnen?" Was all he could manage to say,

"Yes, Legolas?" Tirnen smiled happily.

"How?... why?…" Legolas was left speechless.

"I escaped. I wanted to be free." Came Tirnen's short reply. He knelt down and embraced his friend happily. "I missed you, mellon-nin."

"And I you." Legolas smiled.

Tirnen broke out of the embrace. "What are you doing out here?"

"I wanted to find you."

The young Elf smiled.

"I also missed you. I could not bear it thinking that you were still in slavery when I was free…"

Tirnen stood up and stretched. "It has been a long ride…"

Legolas nodded. "I would imagine." Then he spotted the balck and baby ayrbi, "Who are they, Tirnen?"

Tirnen turned around and looked at them. "The black one is Phieo, and the little black and grey one is Ris and Phieo's son."

"Does he have a name?"

"No… I did not think of a name for him…"

Legolas smiled, "Well, he kind of looks like a pebble, does he not?"

Tirnen laughed a little at the comment, "Yes, he does."

"What about Sarn, then?"

The dark-haired Elf smiled. "I am sure that he would love that name."

"We should head back to the palace, then."

"One more thing, Legolas…"

Legolas turned around, "Yes? What is it?"

"Whatever happened to Haldir and Gallion?"

"All of the slaves are free now, thanks to Aragorn. He abolished slavery in Middle-Earth."

Tirnen nodded happily. "That is wonderful news." He walked back over to Sarn and picked him up in his arms. Then he walked up, next to Legolas.

The Elves walked home with all of the steeds following them every step of the way.

-END-

**A/N- **sigh- I miss replying to your reviews… But thanks for reading this story, everyone! -hugs everyone- Bye! Until next time…;)


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